There's more than white stallions!

North of Tucson, about half an hour away from downtown, surrounded by some mountain peaks, e.g. Twin, Safford and Panther Peaks, and bordered by the Saguaro National Park, the White Stallion Ranch is snuggled in. It's one of the most historic and most prestigious guest ranches of about a dozen left in Arizona.

Entrance to WSR

 It's directly connected to the True Family (as is the Tombstone Monument Ranch and Rancho de la Osa in Sasabe), but this one is larger and more luxurious than TMR, and, nominated one of the "Historic Hotels of America". 

Russell True grew up on his parents' ranch and now manages it now with his wife Laura, son & wife and other family members. Allen and Cynthia True bought the guest ranch in 1965, but it was already homesteaded in 1936 as a cattle ranch, and, changed owners a couple of times. The ranch was hosting guests since 1945, but in 1965, when the Trues came from Colorado to make the ranch their home, with 5-year-old Russell and his baby-brother Michael, the ranch was run down and consisted of 17 rooms, 17 horses and 200 acres. Now the third generation is at the helm, the property comprises about 3,000 acres and offers 43 rooms and a 5 bedroom Hacienda as guest accommodations.

The stallion sculpture at the entrance (photo above) is the symbol of the ranch. The dining room with its bar and saddles for stools (left) is located in one of the original building on the ranch, but there are many more recent additions, e.g. a  sunken tennis courts, a movie theater, a pool and hot tub area, sport courts a spa area and fitness center. In addition, the ranch operates the largest private solar farm in the Tucson area. And, since the early days it was a popular movie set, e.g. the location for the television series High Chaparral (1968-72) or for movies like "Winchester" or Apache Drums.

 

Guest accommodations (above and below)

When we arrived on Sunday, the ranch was really crowded. It was a holiday weekend and many Americans were traveling and enjoying the "luxurious Wild West" here. The crowds were not so much noticeable on the vast grounds, where the guest bungalows and other buildings are spread out, however, around the pens, where all the ranch activities start, it got real busy. One ride after the other, one coming in the other going out.

The ranch is a family-friendly place, many children and young people around, all of them apparently trying to complete as many activities as possible (and, IMHO, trying to eat as much food as possible, too ,,, ). Many of the activities - other then beginners' rides - were already booked out when we arrived, but we got into an archery workshop and went on a hike this morning. On this hike we noticed all the (rather ugly) new housing developments, which had come up only in the last few years.

Penning - an activity for advanced riders

Our bow&arrow instructor

 

Hiking in the nearby mountains

The view from our patio and from the grounds was gorgeous: Mount Lemmon in the background, the only mountain in AZ which allows skiing. And, the ranch is not only surrounded by wilderness and desert landscape, but also has its own beautiful cacti gardens, where all kinds of critters can be seen or heard: lizzards, Gila woodpeckers on saguaros (photo), coyotes, owls, etc. Also, yesterday evening we saw a "halo", a wide ring around the moon, for the first time while sitting in front of our fireplace on the patio. 

Creosote bush in bloom

Lizards having fun

Gila Woodpecker at work

Cactus Garden at night from our patio

"Halo" - around the moon

 

On our last evening, we took these photos below at sunset, when, eventually the ranch and the horses came to rest, people gathered for Happy Hour and lined up for the dinner buffet (full plan is included in most packages here), owls began to make noise and temperatures dropped. A pleasant last evening!