New trends find home on the range

NEAR THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS — Just before sunrise, fighting a temptation to snooze a few hours more in my casita’s comfy queen-size bed, I pull on some shoes and a sweatshirt and head out into the chill early morning air.

To the west, the sky above the still-darkened Chiricahua Mountains slowly shifts from gray to a light, opalescent blue. A family of domesticated geese drifts across the surface of a small, still pond ringed by tall oak trees. And Dharma, an Abkash with sleek white fur – the ranch’s friendly canine sentry – lies in his usual spot on the café’s wraparound porch, dreaming his peaceful dog dreams.

Sunglow Ranch, a retreat that promises a break from the stress and turmoil of the city, was living it up to its word.

“It’s just a total chill factor here,” Susan Nunn, the ranch’s general manager, tells me later, over a breakfast of pumpkin-walnut pancakes, sausage, apple cider and coffee. “You do what you want to do.”

Located in sparsely populated Cochise County, an hour-and-a-half drive southeast of Tucson, the ranch sits on 400 acres at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains, where desert and rolling grasslands merge into juniper and oak forest.

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INTERACTIVES

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Down at the end of a long dirt road, the property backs up to 300,000 acres of the Chiricahua National Monument.

Its secluded location makes the ranch a popular getaway for harried city-dwellers, some who travel from as far as New York City for a few days of rest and relaxation.

“People love the isolation,” Nunn says. “The more chaos they have in their world, the more delighted they are to be here.”

Beginning this summer, the ranch has added a comprehensive program of sustainable and earth-friendly practices to put guests at its nine casitas at even greater ease.

At the café, baked goods are made from organic wheat that is ground on the premises. Green and leafy vegetables increasingly come from the ranch’s garden. Other produce is bought from local farms to further reduce the restaurant’s carbon footprint. Harsh chemical cleansers have also been banished from the kitchen.

The café was certified by the national Green Restaurant Association for its efforts.

“We had to get rid of anything Styrofoam before they would even talk to us,” Nunn says.

The change holds major appeal to guests like Eleanor Kedney, a poet and creative writing teacher from Tucson who is planning a writing seminar at the ranch in several weeks.

“I think that how we walk on this earth is very important,” she says. “It makes me feel good that I’m spending my money in a place that’s not polluting or taxing the environment.”

All of the casitas now boast 150-gallon rainwater catchments, which provide for much of the irrigation of the landscaping. Solar-powered lighting has replaced incandescent bulbs on the driveway.

Vegetarians, vegans and other health-conscious diners will also find themselves at home at the ranch’s café.

“We make really, really healthy meals here,” says Nunn, a vegetarian who has studied macrobiotics for the last 10 years.

Beyond the ranch’s gates, Cochise County itself is experiencing something of a transformation. The largely rural county is now the heart of Arizona’s fledgling winemaking industry, which has seen major expansion in the last few years.

While wine has been made in the area since at least the early 1980s, since 2002 the number of wineries has more than tripled – from nine to 27.

“It’s really taking off,” says Rod Keeling, president of the Arizona Wine Growers Association and owner of Keeling-Shaefer Vineyards, just down the road from Sunglow Ranch. “You can grow this incredible fruit here.”

Keeling retired several years ago, and relocated to the area from Tempe. The climate, wildlife, scenic beauty – and the quiet, largely undeveloped character of the land – made it the ideal place to spend his and his wife’s sunset years.

“This is a genuine place,” he says. “It’s a place you want to keep coming back to.”

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MORE INFORMATION:

One Bedroom Casita (including dinner, breakfast, taxes and gratuities)
1 queen bed
One person - $200.00
Additional person - $70.00

Visit Sunglow Ranch and Cochise County’s tourism board for more details.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.