Tanque Verde Ranch Resort–The Dude Ranch Experience

May 29, 2018

I remember the first time I came to Arizona, Tucson to be specific, I marveled at how the nature looked just like the old movies I have seen on television. You can easily imagine cowboys and native Americans riding over the hills on their horses. The tall sentinels are the Saguaro Cacti. The Saguaro Cactus is an incredibly slow growing plant. Really, it is more of a tree as it has a inside shell of wood that holds the cactus upright to heights from 20-50 feet tall and holds multiple arms. It takes about 10 years for a Saguaro to grow one inch. By 75 years old it grows to a height of only about six feet tall and starts growing its’ first arm. So consider that the cacti that I saw the first time visiting were likely over 200 years old and were small babies when the cowboys and indigent Americans were roaming the desert. The local native American tribes used the fallen saguaro wood for fencing and housing as well as the saguaro flesh and flowers for sustenance

Tucson, itself, is surrounded by three mountain ranges–the Catalina Mountains, The Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains with the Santa Rita Mountains just south. There are so many amazing sights of nature in this eclectic city that it is so worth a visit. Just be prepared, for in the summer the temperatures soar to over 100 degree Fahrenheit for most of June, July and August.

One of the most amazing things to see is the ranch that is considered to be one of the top 10 guest ranches and resorts in the country. Tanque Verde Ranch Resort is an old style cattle “Dude” ranch. Tanque Verde in Spanish means “green tank” and refers to the algae in the pressure springs around this area of southwest Arizona. These springs made it a great source of water to traveling pioneers and native Americans. The Pima tribe dwelled in these lands from around the 1600s and took advantage of the water. These lands were later inhabited by the Apache tribes.

Tanque Ranch was established in 1868 by Don Emilio Carrillo, a Sonora, Mexican rancher who moved to the location after the United States purchased the land in the Gadsden Purchase. He realized that he had protection in the form of the Fort Lowell soldiers against the Apache tribes and he began to ranch the area. The ranch sits at the base of the Rincon Mountains beside the Saguaro National Park and Coronado National Forest. Tanque Verde Ranch is often considered one of the last of the old southwest outposts. Today it is a fantastically historic but working ranch with over 600 acreas and leased land from the National Forest Service.

It first became a guest lodge in the 1920s by a very smart rancher that realized he could provide guests with a ranch experience and get working help at the same time AND get compensated by the guests. Really smart! Over time the ranch has added on to include pools, tennis courts, and many horse trails. You can come sit on the patio and enjoy a gorgeous Tucson sunset after a long day of riding the trails.