Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
492
A Birder's Paradise
Hassayampa River Preserve
The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organiza-
tion dedicated to purchasing and preserving threatened habitats, owns and manages the
Hassayampa River Preserve, which is one of the state's most important bird-watching
sites (280 species of birds have been spotted here). Nature trails lead along the river
beneath cottonwoods and willows, and past the spring-fed Palm Lake. On-site are a
visitor center and bookshop. October through April, free naturalist-guided walks are
offered on the last Saturday of the month at 8:30am (reservations required).
49614 U.S. 60 (mile marker 114, 3 miles southeast of Wickenburg).
&
928/684-2772.
www.nature.org.
Suggested donation $5 ($3 for Nature Conservancy members). Mid-Sept to mid-May Wed-Sun 8am-
5pm; mid-May to mid-Sept Fri-Sun 7-11am. Closed Thanksgiving, day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve,
Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.
Getting Outside
If you're in the area for more than a day or just can't spend another minute in the saddle,
you can go out on a Jeep tour and explore the desert backcountry, visit Vulture Peak, see
some petroglyphs, or check out old mines. Call
B.C. Jeep Tours
(
&
928/684-7901
or
928/231-1010; www.bcjeeptours.com), which charges $60 to $100 per person with a
two-person minimum. However, if you've got time for only one Jeep tour on your Ari-
zona vacation, make it in Sedona.
Los Caballeros Golf Club
, 1551 S. Vulture Mine Rd. (
&
928/684-2704;
www.
loscaballerosgolf.com), has been rated one of the best courses in the state. Greens fees are
$200 in the cooler months.
WHERE TO STAY
Flying E Ranch
Kids
This is a working cattle ranch with 20,000 high, wide, and
handsome acres for you and the cattle to roam. In business since 1946, the Flying E
attracts plenty of repeat business, with families finding it a particularly appealing and
down-home kind of place. Accommodations vary in size, but all have Western-style
furnishings and either twin or king-size beds. Three family-style meals are served in the
wood-paneled dining room; but there's no bar, so you'll need to bring your own liquor.
However, the main lodge does have a spacious lounge where guests like to gather by the
fireplace. There are also breakfast cookouts, lunch rides, hay rides, and evening chuck-
wagon dinners. Horseback riding costs an additional $40 to $60 per person per day.
2801 W. Wickenburg Way, Wickenburg, AZ 85390.
&
888/684-2650
or 928/684-2690. Fax 928/684-5304.
www.flyingeranch.com. 17 units. $308-$392 double. Rates include all meals. 2- to 4-night minimum stay.
MC, V. Closed May-Oct. Drive 4 miles west of town on U.S. 60.
Amenities:
Dining room; exercise room;
Jacuzzi; outdoor pool; sauna; tennis court; Wi-Fi.
In room:
A/C, TV, fridge.
15
Kay El Bar Guest Ranch
This is the smallest and oldest of the Wickenburg guest
ranches; its adobe buildings, built between 1914 and 1925, are listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. The well-maintained ranch is quintessentially Wild West in
style, and the setting, on the shady banks of the Hassayampa River (usually dry), lends
the ranch a surprisingly lush feel compared with the arid surrounding landscape. While
the cottage and the Casa Grande room are the most spacious, the smaller rooms in the
adobe main lodge have original Monterey-style furnishings and other classic 1950s dude-
ranch decor. I like this place because it's so small, you feel like you're on a friend's ranch.
Guests can go out horseback riding twice a day, except on Sunday when there's a morning
ride followed by an al fresco brunch.
