Tanque Verde Ranch – Our Trip To An Arizona Dude Ranch

PHOTO: Tanque Verde Ranch, Tucson, Arizona: Sharon rides her horse Colonel along the trails between the cactus. Established in 1868, the Ranch is located on 640 acres in the Sonoran Desert and adjacent to the Saguaro National Park. The guest ranch offers many other activities beyond horse riding such as archery, axe throwing, tennis, fishing, mountain biking and much more.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Going to a dude ranch was Sharon’s idea. I thought why not since there isn’t any skiing to be found in October and it sounded like a good time.
It isn’t possible to fly directly to Tucson, Arizona from Logan. A shuttle from Tanque Verde Ranch picked us up at the Tucson Airport (it’s maybe a little bigger than MHT.) We did arrive at the Ranch in time to have a fabulous burger and beer in their Dog House Saloon before going to bed way too late. This is where we ended each day because it was a good place to meet other people and talk about things we all did.
Our room was large and in the morning the view through the sliding glass doors revealed a lovely cacti covered hillside. We were hungry for breakfast at 7:30. Yes, the three hour time zone change didn’t fool my growling stomach, it knew it was 10:30 am back home.
Breakfast was very good in their spacious dining room; we ordered off the menu or visited the well stocked buffet that welcomed us each morning. We learned that the wood ceiling was made of Saguaro Cactus ribs. The ribs/sticks are the skeleton of dead Saguaro Cacti.
Our plan was to ride horses as much as our bodies could stand and to enjoy the Ranch in the Sonoran Desert.

After breakfast we went to the Wrangler’s Roost for our first horse outing–intermediate horsemanship lesson, 1.5 hours. We arrived early and were put on our horses right away and the horses walked us down to the Corral that was bigger than a football field. There were 7 of us in the class. Our wrangler, Bill, started with the basics: toes up, heels down, stay in your seat and how to turn the horse. We took turns going around cones and then we trotted around. Then those that wanted to loped (canter), we took turns one at a time riding around the corral. It was really fun and helpful to watch others and hear Wrangler Bill’s instructions and tips.
Did I say it was hot? Everyday by 10 am it was well into the 90’s; one day it hit 99 degrees!
We drank lots and lots of water. We were warned not to wait until we were thirsty to drink because then it would be too late not to get dehydrated.
After our lesson, Sharon and I both felt muscles we didn’t know that we had and we found our seat bones. We had lunch and enjoyed an hour at the pool before going back to the horses. We went out for a walking horse ride. We rode under Cottonwood Trees and along a dry wash (brook/drainage) that we were told is full of water from the snowmelt in the spring. It was hot but the trees provided a little bit of welcome shade for us and the horses.
Dinner on Wednesday and Saturday nights is a Cowboy Cookout held at their Cottonwood Grove. A big barbeque of ribs and chicken or steak and all the fixings was served to us. A three piece band played all my favorite country songs and I surprised Sharon that I knew all the words to the songs. Some of us did some swing dancing before it was time to head back.

As we were leaving a few Javelinas got near the tables hoping someone left behind something they could eat. They resemble boars but we were told they aren’t part of the swine family. We had no desire to get close to them. We stopped by the Dog House Saloon on our way to our room.
We were on horses early for a ride to breakfast and we rode up the hills that we looked at from our room. Our horses carried us between the big Saguaro Cactus, Barrel Cactus and Prickly Pear too. The horses stepped between the rocks and up and down drainages. Tucson is surrounded by mountains. The scenery made me feel like I was in a western movie and I was continuously wowed by what I saw. Breakfast was outdoors on top of a hill with a big view. Pancakes, eggs and plenty of the best bacon. We saw deer, roadrunners, a turkey and I was glad we didn’t see any rattlesnakes.
We took the intermediate horsemanship lesson three times, we went on walking rides and intermediate trotting rides. No two rides were alike. We didn’t have the same horse every ride. We didn’t think this was ideal but it was interesting to experience the differences. Some horses are better than others. I am sure the horses think the same thing about their riders.
I also took the lope test three times. Loping around the corral was my favorite part of the lessons; riding comfortably and fast. I didn’t feel like I failed but I didn’t pass. From what I saw, only a few pass this test and then are permitted to go on loping rides on the trails. Another guest and I took it together all three times. The first time only his wife passed, in our small group. This was his fourth trip to the ranch and he had no issues passing on his previous visits. I still don’t know what to think about this but I didn’t dwell on it. I had plenty of fun trotting along and doing the walk rides and taking the lessons.
There are many activities at the Ranch. Mountain biking, hiking, axe-throwing, arts & crafts, fishing, bird watching and more. We rode the horses and swam in the pool. Just once we did something different and that was to take the Saguaro National Park Jeep Tour.
The Ranch borders the National Park and it is a short ride to the Park’s entrance. Our driver Wes kept us listening to him keenly for almost three hours as we drove the loop road in the park. We stopped many times along the way to look at plants and natural features. Wes took our photo in front of a giant Saguaro Cactus. We also saw and learned about the rare Crested Saguaro Cactus caused by a mutation that causes the top to grow into a fan shape. He even
brought along some tasty cookies made from mesquite powder (flour) and some Barrel Cactus fruit. We didn’t pick or take anything inside the National Park. We were so glad we decided to do this outing, we learned so much and enjoyed the environment and different climate zones.

Our last ride of our adventure was a spectacular sunset ride. It was my fourth ride of that day and Sharron got quite a kick out of seeing me totally exhausted. She smartly took some extra pool time instead of more rides. The setting sun’s glow changed the colors of the desert. We rode high up in the hills and looking down on the tops of the Saguaro their spines reflected the light and looked like they were white capped. The Barrel Cactus spines looked orange. The mountain glow on the surrounding peaks filled our eyes.
Wranglers Bill, Ashley, Cat, Mike, Aspen, Marty—I wish I was better remembering all names of the wranglers that helped all of us get on and off our horses, instruct and lead our rides. Thank you for helping make fun memories. And the horses, Sharon loved Colonel and I liked Tucson, Ghost and Trail Mix, we were glad we got to ride with them.
We tried something different–Giddy Up and Have Fun.