Arizona Tombstone

Day 1 - Arrival

Riding: No riding.

Arrive and settle into your room. You're free to use the ranch facilities and maybe take a walk to explore the local area before dinner.

Days 2 to 7

Riding: 4 - 6 hours

On this western ranch near Tombstone you can do as much or as little riding as you like. There are many outrides offered each day which you can sign up for. Beginners or novices can join slow rides, whilst more experienced riders can join fast rides, which include trots and lopes (steady canters).

Examples of slow rides include:

Outlaw Trail: ride up Outlaw Road for a scenic ride with a great view of Tombstone town - there is some up and down hill riding but it's an easy trail

Railway Creek: ride on Schiefflein Monument Road (the old road that connected Tombstone to Fairbank), join up with the old abandoned railroad grade and then drop down to spectacular Walnut Gulch. The rides takes you through a narrow wash back to the ranch.

Examples of fast rides include:

Stagecoach: start on Monument Road, drop into Walnut Gulch, ride to Highway 80 and back along a steep sided wash, in and out of some brush until you reach the railroad grade.

Cave and Road: start on Outlaw Road, turn onto Gunfighter alley to the "dead end" and return home like the old cowboys - brush poppin'.

Examples of Speciality rides:

Beer and Doritos: slow ride to the back of Scheifflin monument with amazing views of the old railroad trestle, petroglyph rocks and Dragoon mountains, with cold beer and Doritos as your reward.

Tombstone ride: Ride to town like the gunslingers of the past, through old ranches and down washes. Step off your horses in an old bull riding arena and head to Allen street for a beer at Big Nose Kate's or to witness a gun fight. Return to the ranch down Schiefflein Monument Road and the old railroad grade.

There are also full and half day rides on offer. When not riding you can choose from other activities on site such as Team Penning, Archery, Shooting (extra charge).

Day 8 - Departure

Riding: No riding.

Depart after breakfast.

Day 1 - Sunday

Riding: No riding.

Arrive at the ranch and settle in; take a walk about the lodge, have a drink in the saloon, enjoy a delicious dinner before bedding down for a night full of cowboy dreams.

Days 2 to 6 - Days 2-6

Riding: 5 - 6 hours

A great way to experience an authentic cattle round up! You’ll hit the range to gather the ranch's herd of Criollo cattle and drive them to the ranch, then back out to new pasture. You’ll ride through dry riverbeds, rocky desert hills, dramatic canyons and mesquite groves to find and gather the Criollo cattle herd across the 15-square-mile ranch; and then drive them back out to their desert rangelands—just like the cowboys of years past.
The typical itinerary will begin with a Sunday arrival followed by a day in the arena to make sure all riders are happy and in control on their mounts. Then it's off out onto the range to start scouting for cattle and begin the gathering. You will be riding independently. Wranglers will be out with the group, but there will be times when you are on your own, out of sight of the wranglers so you must be prepared to follow instruction and be in control of your horse at all times.
The Winter Gathering working ranch experience does not include seasonal cattle work activities like branding and tagging (for this please see Spring Round Up dates/rates), instead the focus is on gathering and driving cattle to and from the ranch, and there is no definitive timescale for this; how quickly the herd is gathered will depend on kind of country they are in, how widely they are dispersed, how far from headquarters they are, and how many renegades escape and have to be brought back to the herd! The ranch country you will be riding across is diverse with wide, dry riverbeds, boulder strewn valleys, slot canyons, steep rock covered hills, dense thickets of thorn covered trees and brush, sudden drop-offs and open flats toward the San Pedro River. For this reason you should be able to mount and dismount without assistance, as you likely will have to do this throughout the day.
PLEASE NOTE: this is not a “fast ride”. Moving and working cattle is always done as slowly as possible. Speed will only be employed when necessary and hopefully not at all. Hearty meals at the lodge restaurant will ensure riders are well fed while out on the range! There is also a saloon back at the ranch for a well-deserved beverage at the end of a long, dusty day full of camaraderie and cattle.