Log Cabin with Autumn Colors. A Liz Sockness Photo.
To us, Cochise County means natural beauty & adventure. Here are great outdoor opportunities for hiking, rock climbing, camping, picnicking, & bird watching. This County also has great opportunities for peaceful relaxation, particularly at the many Inns, B&B’s, & guest ranches. Whether it’s adventure or tranquility you seek, you can easily find it here.
Cochise County is vast & diverse, with long stretches of open road between settlements. Here you will find high mountain forests, such as the Chiricahuas where Cochise, and later, Geronimo once hunted and sought protection for their people.
Cochise County has seas of grasslands with circling raptors, playas were snow geese winter, and magnificent preserves, like Ramsey Canyon & the San Pedro River, with their wild critters, including black bear & coatimundi, and dozens of rare bird species.
This beautiful landscape is dotted with modern vineyards & wineries, from Sonoita to Dos Cabezas to Willcox. Just south of Benson is Karchner Caverns State Park, one of the West’s premier cave tours.
Fort Bowie Ruins
Haunting the landscape are ghost towns, such as Gleeson & Pearce, and sites of seriously historic importance, such as Fort Huachuca, home of the Buffalo Soldiers, and Fort Bowie, built to protect the Butterfield Stages that carried mail & passengers through the extreme danger of Apache Pass on their way from St. Louis to San Francisco.
Cochise County is also home to two historic cities that should be ghost towns, but are very much alive today: Bisbee & Tombstone. Only 25 miles apart, you can experience the Old West of the 1880;s and the New West of the early 20th century.
Southern Arizona Guide has a dozen original videos, slideshows, and articles about the living history that is Bisbee & Tombstone, plus many dining & lodging reviews to help our visitors make informed choices.
For more information about Cochise County in general and Bisbee & Tombstone in particular, just click on their respective hot spots on our Cochise County map.
Benson
Kartchner Caverns Review
If you have the time, on your way from Tucson to Tombstone and Bisbee, stop at Kartchner Caverns State Park for a guided tour. Very worthwhile but you will need reservations.
read on..
Bisbee
Home of the Copper Queen Mine. A quirky town with some very good restaurants.
Hotel San Ramón In Bisbee Arizona: A Review.
Bisbee’s historic district is one of the finest examples of early 20th century American cities anywhere. Just walking around will pull you back in time more than a hundred years.
For reasons I cannot explain, Bisbee has some of the very best restaurants in Southern Arizona. Fortuitously, Bisbee also has a couple of fine old hotels. The Hotel San Ramón is one.
Baseball History in Bisbee Arizona; Warren Ballpark
Bisbee, Arizona boasts an exciting piece of baseball history. It is home to the Warren Ballpark, considered the oldest continuously used professional baseball venue in the country. The field was built in 1909, five years before Wrigley Field in Chicago!
read on..Bisbee Grand Hotel Bed & Breakfast: A Review.
I have had the pleasure of staying in many historical hotels & inns, including European castles. Considering their antiquity, travelers have to decide if the experience of living temporarily in a relic is worth doing without certain modern amenities and putting up with a few quirks & inconveniences.
read on..Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant, Bisbee
Just about every time I have gone to Bisbee over the past year I have tried to dine at Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant. However, something always managed to spoil my plans…until last week.I had heard a lot of positive comments about Santiago’s as I wandered Old Bisbee taking photographs and talking with the natives. Now I know why. Just walking in the front door will put a smile on your face. The interior is light and colorful, even playful. Very Mexican in the best possible sense. Santiago’s is a happy place.
read on..Bisbee, Arizona: By Charlene Mitchell and BisbeeEnclave.com
Bisbee Enclave is a beautiful and useful website about dining, lodging, upcoming events, and things to see and do in historic Old Bisbee.
Bisbee Enclave is published by local musician Becky Reyes and local photographer Charlene Mitchell. You can view more of Charlene’s extraordinary photography at EvokingImages.com.
Cochise Stronghold
Cochise Stronghold Bed & Breakfast
I had a pleasant conversation with the proprietor of the Cochise Stronghold Bed & Breakfast, Ms. Nancy Yates. She showed me around the property and her one unoccupied casita – very pleasant. If I am limited to just two words to describe her B&B, they would be serene and isolated. Unless Nancy gives you VERY specific directions, you will never find it, which is actually her marketing strategy. She has a very specific clientele in mind and does not want people just driving around to bop in uninvited. Much of Nancy’s business is hosting retreats and special events, such as weddings. Nancy prepares special, very healthy breakfasts and has them delivered to your casita. Now, that’s service. … read on..
Cochise Stronghold Natural Apache Fortress
This rugged natural fortress was, for some 15 years, the home and base of operations for the famed Chiricahua Apache Chief, Cochise. Cochise and about 1,000 of his followers, of whom some 250 were warriors, located here. Sentinels, constantly on watch from the towering pinnacles of rock, could spot their enemies in the valley below and sweep down without warning in destructive raids. No White Eyes, man, woman or child, within a hundred miles was safe from these attacks. Click here to read more. Enjoy Hiking, birdwatching, rockclimbing. Stargazing or just cooling off in the 5000ft. Elevation. Camping is available and run by the BLM. RV’s no longer than 30′. There are 9 tent or RV sites, and 2 group sites. Nearby lodging Cochise Stronghold B&B. Sunglow Ranch … read on..
Take a Hike
Worthwhile Hikes. Visit the following websites for more information. Cochise Stronghold Saguaro National Park Santa Catalina Mountains … read on..
Cortland, Douglas, Gleeson, Pearce, Portal Ghost Towns, Bordertowns, the Slaughter Ranch and Birder heaven all in one day.
Road Trip – Day 2 – Evening; Coronado Vineyards & Historic Simpson Hotel
Days One/Recap This is a continuation of my post about our April 2012 three-day tour of Southeast Arizona. On day-one, we visited the ghost towns of Pearce, Courtland, and Gleason east of Tombstone with a short side trip to Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks. Then we continued south to the Slaughter Ranch east of Douglas, then [...]
read on..Ghost Town Trail: Pearce To Cortland To Gleeson!
On a recent Road Trip, we stopped at a few ghost towns, namely Pearce, Cortland, and Gleeson along the Ghost Town Trail. These are all located near Sunsites east of Tombstone.
read on..Road Trip – Day 1; Ghost Towns, Slaughter Ranch, & Portal
Above is the route Ms. Karen & I took on a three-day weekend to Southeastern Arizona. This is a wonderful place for children and adults. Tons of hiking, picnicking, camping, fishing, bird and critter watching. And lots of Native American and Pioneer history.
read on..Sunsites
Dining & Lodging In Apache Country (Cochise County)
Good food and lodging are few and far between in Cochise County Apache Country. Here are a couple of suggestions.
read on..Sierra Vista
Sierra Vista claims Ramsey Canyon Preserve, The Hummingbird Capital of the U.S. and The Fort Huachuca Museum.
San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area: Photos by Francie Hills
An amateur photographer, Francie Hills is a retired teacher from New Hampshire who currently lives in Sierra Vista. We first saw Francie’s photographs at the San Pedro House, the visitor center operated by Friends of the San Pedro River. This 57,000 acre preserve protects one of the last remaining year-round free-flowing rivers in Arizona. People have lived in this area for at least 11,000 years. Here you will find pleasant hiking trails, dozens of bird species, a ghost town, and an archeological site. … read on..
A Video History of the San Pedro River Area
This video describes the importance of San Pedro River and Riparian area and makes a case and plea for conservation.
read on..Fort Huachuca Museums at Sierra Vista
Just west of the main route through Sierra Vista is Fort Huachuca, headquarters for the U.S. Army’s Strategic Communications Command and the home of two fine military museums housed in three building on the fort. One museum is dedicated to the history of the U.S. Army in the American Southwest.
read on..Gallery
Hummingbirds of Ramsey Canyon
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Tombstone
Boothill Graveyard: Tombstone, AZ
Visiting Tombstone’s Boothill Graveyard is free. After all, it’s a public cemetery. But it takes considerable willpower not to stop at the gift shop on the way out and buy a souvenir. We have several. Newman (Old Man) Clanton was born in 1816 and was killed by Mexican troops in Arizona Territory on August 13, 1881, about 10 weeks before his youngest son, William (Billy) Clanton would die of wounds sustained in a blaze of gunfire on Freemont Street near the OK Corral in Tombstone; October 26, 1881. Another son, Issac (Ike) Clanton, a mean-spirited, loudmouth cowardly drunk was instrumental in fomenting that gunfight between the Earps (Virgil, Wyatt, Morgan and Doc Holliday) and 3 Cowboys (Frank & Tom McLaury & Billy Clanton). The “Old Man” was, by many accounts, a successful rancher and cattle rustler. It is unlikely he ever met the Earps or Holliday because he had moved to New Mexico before they arrived in Tombstone in late 1879. Billy Clanton was only 19 when he and several of his “Cowboy” friends were confronted by Marshall Virgil Earp and his 3 deputies because they were armed in violation of Tombstone City Ordinance. Blowhard Ike Clanton & would-be … read on..
The Earp Vendetta Ride Revisited
The Earp Vendetta Ride is your chance to ride where Doc and Wyatt tracked down the men who wounded Virgil and murdered Morgan following the most famous gunfight in American history.
read on..Earp Vendetta Ride
The Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone was only the beginning of the murderous conflict between the Earp Brothers and their friends, and the outlaw gang known as ‘The Cowboys’. ‘The Cowboys’ were about two-dozen hard riding, hard drinking ranchers and rustlers, their hired hands and gunslingers. Most notable among them were the Clanton Brothers, Ike and Billy; the McLaury Brothers, Frank and Tom; Johnny Barnes; “Curly Bill” Brocius; Florintino Cruz, aka “Indian Charlie”; Frank Stilwell; and Johnny Ringo. … read on..
Gunfight At The OK Corral: A Timeline Without The Legend
A brief synopsis of the Cowboys and the Earps and a timeline of the events that led up to the Gunfight at the OK Corral.
read on..Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday Accused Of Murder!
Following the Gunfight at the OK Corral, Ike Clanton filed murder charges against the Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, as well as Virgil and Morgan Earp who had been wounded in the gunfight.
read on..Willcox
Willcox Museums
Willcox is about an hour’s drive east of Tucson on I-10. There are several venues of interest in the vicinity, including; Marty Robbins Museum. A White Sport Coat; El Paso; My Woman, My Woman, My Wife. ‘Nuff said. Adjacent to the Rex Allen Museum. 156 N. Railroad Ave. Willcox AZ 85643 Apple Annies U-Pick Orchards is fun for city kids. Seasonal. Check for what’s ready to pick. Produce & Pumpkins: 6405 W Williams Rd; Willcox, AZ 85643. 520-384-4685. Orchards: 2081 W Hardy Rd; Willcox, AZ 85643. 520-384-2084. Chiricahua National Monument. These mountains are visually stunning and great for hiking. Take your camera. Call ahead or stop by the Visitors Center to find out what’s open, as some of the trails and scenic drives have been closed recently due to fire. 12856 East Rhyolite Creek Road; Willcox, AZ 85643. 520-824-3560. Gas up at Willcox ’cause there ain’t no gas station near the Monument. Nor is there any food, so bring a picnic lunch and snacks at the very least. … read on..
Amerind Foundation & Museum
The Amerind Museum is an internationally acclaimed Museum and research facility located between Benson and Willcox. The museum boasts an impressive collection of Native American artifacts as well as paintings by western artists. Amerind Museum Website … read on..
