Southern Arizona - American Southwest - page 487

NEAR DOUGLAS
Slaughter Ranch Museum Finds Down a dusty gravel road outside Douglas lies
a little-known Southwestern landmark: the Slaughter Ranch. If you're old enough, you
may remember a Walt Disney TV show called Texas John Slaughter. This was his spread.
In 1884, former Texas Ranger John Slaughter bought the San Bernardino Valley and
turned it into one of the finest cattle ranches in the West. Slaughter later went on to
become the sheriff of Cochise County and helped rid the region of the unsavory charac-
ters who had flocked to the many mining towns of this remote part of the state. Today,
the ranch is a National Historic Landmark and has been restored to its late-19th-century
appearance. Surrounding the ranch buildings are wide lawns and a large pond that
together attract a variety of birds, making this one of Arizona's best winter birding spots.
For the-way-it-was tranquillity, this old ranch can't be beat.
6153 Geronimo Trail, about 14 miles east of Douglas. & 520/558-2474. www.slaughterranch.com.
Admission $8 adults, free for children 13 and under. Wed-Sun 10am-3pm. Closed Christmas and New
Year's Day. From Douglas, go east on 15th St., which runs into Geronimo Trail; continue east 14 miles.

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BIRDING HOT SPOTS
At the Willcox Chamber of Commerce, 1500 N. Circle I Rd. ( & 800/200-2272 or
520/384-2272; www.willcoxchamber.com), you can pick up several birding maps and
checklists for the region.
To the east of Chiricahua National Monument, on the far side of the Chiricahuas, lies
Cave Creek Canyon, one of the most important bird-watching spots in the United
States. It's here that the colorful elegant trogon reaches the northern limit of its range.
Other rare birds that have been spotted here include sulfur-bellied flycatchers, and
Lucy's, Virginia's, and black-throated gray warblers. Stop by the visitor center for infor-
mation on the best birding spots in the area. Cave Creek Canyon is just outside the
community of Portal; in summer, it can be reached from the national monument by
driving over the Chiricahuas on graded gravel roads. In winter, you'll likely have to drive
around the mountains, which entails going south to Douglas and then 60 miles north to
Portal or north to I-10, and then south 35 miles to Portal.
The Cochise Lakes (actually, the Willcox sewage ponds) are another great bird-
watching spot. Birders can see a wide variety of waterfowl and shorebirds, including
avocets and ibises. To find the ponds, head south out of Willcox on Ariz. 186, turn right
onto Rex Allen, Jr. Drive at the sign for the Twin Lakes golf course, and go past the golf
course.
Between October and March, as many as 30,000 sandhill cranes gather in the Sulphur
Springs Valley south of Willcox, and in January, the town holds the Wings Over Willcox
festival (www.wingsoverwillcox.com), a celebration of these majestic birds. Southwest of
Willcox, on U.S. 191, near the community of Cochise and the Apache Generating Sta-
tion electricity-generating plant, you'll find the Apache Station Wildlife Viewing Area,
the area's best spot for viewing cranes. The Sulphur Springs Valley is also well known for
its large wintering population of raptors, including ferruginous hawks and prairie fal-
cons.

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WHERE TO STAY
Near Willcox
Cochise Stronghold B&B Finds Set on 5 acres of private land within Coro-
nado National Forest's Cochise Stronghold area, this remote and beautiful B&B is one
of my favorites in the state. The inn is an energy-efficient, passive solar home with two