Dragoon Mountain Ride
- Ride through the mountains of Cochise’s Stronghold

Join us on a riding tour in the rugged Dragoon Mountains, once home to the fierce Chiricahua Apache tribe and Cochise’s stronghold on well bred horses while staying in comfortable accommodations at night. Explore the Chiricahua National Monument and the areas around Fort Bowie with expert guides during the day and join in on a Western dance at night. To top it off we take you one an overnight pack trip into the mountains that you will not so soon forget. True Western hospitality awaits you. 

IRAZ01
Rates include 6 nights in cabin accommodations, all meals, one overnight camping (optional), 6 days of riding, one night evening entertainment with local band
8 days/ 7 nights $ 1,545     Single: + $295
...  special dates $1,275
... upgrade to Casita  $ 140 pp
Dates 2008:
05/25-06/01    06/01-06/08    06/08-06/15
06/15-06/22    06/22-06/29    06/29-07/06
10/05-10/12    10/12-10/19    10/19-10/26
10/26-11/02    11/02-11/09    11/09-11/16
11/16-11/23    11/23-11/30
availability & reservation

Taxes: included
Gratuities:  15% to pay locally
Meeting: Pearce, Dragoon Mountain
Airport:  Tucson
Transfer: $175 each way per car - to be paid locally.
Horses: Quarter, Quarter mix
Tack:  Western
Pace:  All paces - there are loping rides available throughout the week. The all day excursions are at a slower pace due to the terrain
Level:  all levels
Min/Max:  3 to 12
                  ... if only 2 riders - add $50 pp

Itinerary

Day 1 (Sunday):   Arrival in Tucson and 80 mile transfer to the ranch at 4 PM. You will be staying at a  working cattle and guest ranch in the heart of Arizona’s Apache country at a 5,000 foot (1,500m) elevation. The ranch buildings, nestled in groves of Arizona oak, manzanita and mesquite trees, are almost invisible in this wooded canyon, with mountains forming a dramatic, three-sided backdrop.  Dinner and overnight.
Day 2:   After breakfast we will introduce you to your horse, give some some tips and off we go on a 3 hour ride through some of the most beautiful country you have ever seen, with scenery changing about every fifteen minutes. After lunch you have the option to relax at the pool or participate in a 2 hour fast paced ride (only for good intermediate riders). Dinner and overnight at the ranch.
Day 3:  We load up the horses and head off for an all day ride to the Chiricahua National Monument. This spectacular Canyon with its fantastic rock formations is probably the least known of America's National Parks, and yet is one of the most beautiful. For many years after the early settlers arrived in this valley, the canyon remained totally undiscovered by the white man, although it was used as a place of refuge by the Apache. We trailer the horses to the parking lot of the Faraway Ranch, once the home of Ed and Lillian Riggs. From there we ride past the recently restored homestead, an interesting example of early Arizona architecture, through rolling meadows of ranch country, and then up a steeply ascending trail winding through tall pines reminiscent of Montana. After many switchbacks, each one revealing more breathtaking scenery, we arrive in the almost lunar landscape of Balancing Rock and the Heart of Rocks - an outing you will never forget. This trail is not for novice riders, as it is steep, with switchbacks and steep drop-offs. This trip may not be possible in winter, as the elevation is 7,000 feet (2,100m). Turkey Creek is offered as an alternative.
Day 4:  Extended day distance ride through the Cochise Stronghold on interesting trails with some trots and canters. Through the Stronghold Canyon, past the mountain divide which the trail crosses on its way down to the West Stronghold. This is the route taken by General Otis Howard when he met with Cochise to negotiate their peace treaty. Nice picnic lunch out on the trail with breathtaking vistas. Late afternoon we have time for a hot shower before Happy Hour.
Day 5:   Today we will explore the area around Fort Bowie. Fort Bowie was built in the 1860's to protect the infamous Apache Pass, where many a wagon train was attacked by braves led by Chief Cochise of the Chiricahua Apaches and Chief Mangas Coloradas of the Mimbres. We ride past the ruins of the stage station, by what is left of the old Fort Bowie cemetery, where the remains of soldier and Indian are buried side by side. We pass through the canyon where the Battle of Apache Pass took place, by the foundation of the house where Tom Jeffords, friend to Cochise and Indian Agent at that time, once lived; past Apache Spring, the only source of water for miles around, and thus one of the causes of contention between the white man and the Indian, and finally onto the summit of the pass, where we see the United States flag waving lone and tall on the long ago deserted parade ground of old Fort Bowie. Today Fort Bowie is fast disappearing, crumbling back into the earth, but it is a fascinating and nostalgic reminder of the tough pioneers who won the West for us. After a long shower and dinner we are invited to join the crew and other guests to a Western Dance evening with a live band.
Day 6 to 7:   Join us on a pack trip in the rugged Dragoon Mountains, once home to the fierce Chiricahua Apache tribe. After a day's ride through their old camping and hunting grounds, we set up our camp in some picturesque canyon, and enjoy a dinner of steak, beans and all the fixin's cooked over a campfire. Later we relax under the twinkling stars and listen to the lonely howl of a coyote, and the sounds of the horses jostling each other on the picket line. In the morning the smell of cowboy coffee and sizzling bacon wakes us, ready for another day's adventure. (available March thru October – during  November thru February we will add two full day rides returning to the ranch at night). Farewell dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 8:   Early morning ride after breakfast and departure back to Tucson around noon. Earliest light departure should be around 3 PM.