Boondocking at Las Cienegas & The Empire Ranch

Since I am not going to write a blog specifically about the end of 2020, I will just say that the year left us heartbroken because our Golden, Nala, needed to be euthanized on December 22. She had a pathological fracture and several indications that it was caused by bone cancer on x-ray. It was all of the sudden and we miss her like crazy.

Right after Christmas and 6 weeks of being in NC for the holidays, we beelined across the country, wanting to take advantage of Michael’s time off from work for long drive days. After 2000 miles, four parking lot sleeps, and completely traumatizing the cat, we made it! “It” being southern Arizona – where summer, and many RVers, go during winter. And also, to Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, where we lived off-grid (except on the cellular one) for 10 days!

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Las Cienegas NCA, an hour southeast of Tucson, turned out to be the perfect spot for our maiden boondocking voyage. Boondocking is a term that I’ll use for dispersed camping without any hookups, on land usually managed by the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, or the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Boondocking locations are more plentiful on the west coast. They are often off the beaten path, literally not even a paved road for access. And also not convenient for groceries or other supplies. You have to arrive prepared with water, be able to generate and store your own power, be self-contained, and pack everything out.

Because of our propane appliances, solar panels, and lithium batteries, power is not really a problem. Conserving water is now the main issue. The camper has a 45-gallon tank and we have 3 five-gallon water bags we use to refill our tank. We were able to make it 10 days on 60 gallons. Our goal is to go 14 days, which is usually the limit for boondocking on federal land.

Las Cienegas NCA is a semidesert grassland covered with mesquite and only a handful of easily avoidable cacti. It is in a valley framed by mountain ranges and we had a 360-degree view. We were lucky to find a spot in the Cieneguita Camp Area considering we arrived on New Year’s Eve.

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We were also lucky enough for one sighting of a herd of pronghorn. Pronghorn look like antelope but are not actually related to antelope. They are the fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere and the second-fastest in the world, behind the Cheetah. I probably need to invest in a telephoto lens for the wildlife.

We have been happily surprised by a feature we didn’t realize southern Arizona had so much of – mountains. These mountains are the Madrean Sky Islands, forest-covered isolated ranges between the Sierra Madres and the Rockies, some rising up 6000ft from the surrounding sea of Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts. Because of these drastically different habitats, this region is home to some of the greatest biodiversity in the US.

On the first Saturday of our stay in this area, we hiked the Madera Canyon Trail, part of the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Rita Mountains. While there is no photographic evidence, the highlight of this hike was meeting three coyotes on a narrow section of trail. I’m not sure who scared who more.

On the second Saturday here, we decided to stay “home” and bike a 15-mile loop (okay, I was really trying to find the pronghorn again, unsuccessfully). It was still a good workout.

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The land of the Las Cienegas NCA has been a working cattle ranch since the 1860s. The historic Empire Ranch house is open for self-guided tours and was worth a visit. Hollywood loved the ranch, which was a filming location for dozens of westerns including Tombstone, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and others.