Published July 4, 2022, for State 48 A2Z
Whether you are looking for a working dude-ranch experience or just a fun place to stay for a getaway, the Tombstone Monument Guest Ranch is your destination. Located about 2.5 miles from the historic Tombstone attractions and about 30-miles from the Dragoon Mountains, this ranch offers a unique guest experience for all.
Built on an actual old homestead site, this dude ranch was designed to replicate an actual Old West town with a Tombstone theme. The old west experience starts even before you get there with the road leading to the Ranch from Tombstone being unpaved for the last one-and-a-half miles or so. It is totally accessible by passenger vehicle though.
Once you are at the Ranch you will find guest rooms lining Main Street with wooden sidewalks on each side of the street. The rooms however are all themed based on how they are labeled from the street. You can stay in rooms called “Marshall’s Office”, “Courthouse”, “Mining Office”, “Miss Kitty’s Bordello”, “Wyatt Earp”, and more. While the room fronts are all replicas of a late 1800s town, the rooms are well furnished for today’s creature comforts (including air conditioning, a luxury that early pioneers would have loved to have). And, just in case you were wondering…. yes, they do have indoor plumbing and modern fixtures.
As this is an actual dude ranch, they offer packages that include ranch experiences such as horseback riding, cattle work, archery, western-style shooting, UTV Tours, meals, and more. Guests do not have to participate in the full-ranch experiences if they choose not to, but packages are available for those who want to experience the ranch life. This is also a good jump-off point for day visits to Tombstone, Bisbee, Benson, Wilcox, and the Dragoons.
Tombstone Monument Ranch designs your horseback riding experience to the individual’s experience level. If you are not so experienced or a novice, enjoy one of their slow, scenic rides or, if you are more experienced, enjoy a fast-paced ride with trotting and loping. They even have specialty rides that include half-day excursions to Tombstone, or maybe a tequila tasting ride is more to your liking.
Another dude ranch experience they provide is cowboy breakfast and coffee around the campfire with Arizona Bill on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If riding and roping isn’t your thing, the Ranch has horses, cattle, and other livestock to check out. Maybe take a short drive south and you are in Bisbee for the afternoon. This is also a great place to shoot night photography if you enjoy that.
In the evenings, after a hot homestyle dinner at Schieffelin’s Restaurant, sit back in the Old Trapmann Saloon, which has an actual wood bar from the late 1800s, and enjoy a few drinks (may I suggest the Old Overholt Rye Whiskey? It was the favorite of Doc Holliday and President Lincoln, not to mention mine as well), enjoy the entertainment, or maybe a hand of Texas Hold’em or Faro (the real game played in the old west), or maybe shoot some pool before retiring for the night.
We found this place by accident back in 2017, and it has been a very pleasant accident. We stay here whenever we are in the Tombstone area and love the atmosphere, staff, and service provided. Tombstone Monument Ranch is a very fun place to stay and meet new friends. Check out their web page for more information on the ranch and everything they have to offer. Tell them State 48 A2Z sent you.
It’s probably just me but every time I pull up to this ranch, I catch myself whistling the theme from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
That’ll wrap things up for this week. As always, thanks for reading, stay safe, and happy travels. Be sure to like and follow us on social media (links below), share our blog posts, and feel free to give us your feedback. And, if you go somewhere in Arizona that you think others should know about, please let us know so we can add it to our travel list. We’d love to hear from you. Peace!
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