About the Mountain Empire:

     The Mountain Empire (Sonoita, Patagonia, and Elgin) is an inviting and refreshing place. This is an area of great resources and simple values, where you will meet a wide range of people. There are lifelong ranchers here, living, working, riding side by side with artists, retirees, and small business owners. Many who make their homes here have held – or still hold – high-profile roles outside this community, and live here because they prefer the simple, peaceful and independent lifestyle of this rural countryside. 

     The landscape ranges from rolling folds of land densely strewn with oaks, to vast expanses of grassy prairie edged by stark mountains. Climbing the mountain as you drive south from the arid desert that embraces Tucson, Sonoita’s 5000’ grassy plain emerges as you come over the pass. It is unexpectedly verdant, swathed in tall green grass during the summer monsoons, dotted about with slowly moving cattle belly-deep in the lushness. This plain is still home to many large, privately owned ranches, and thousands of acres have been reserved by the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Forestry. Many movies have been filmed here because of the spectacular, open scenery. 

     Only an hour from Tucson, the towns of Sonoita, Patagonia and Elgin are home to a variety of excellent restaurants, and recreation opportunities abound at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Sonoita, Parker Canyon Lake in Canelo, and Lake Patagonia State Park in Patagonia. 

     Sonoita is home to the Santa Cruz County Fair, the Sonoita Quarter Horse Races, the Sonoita Quarter Horse Show, and the Sonoita Rodeo, as well as a host of other events. The town of Patagonia hosts an annual Fall Festival, which attracts a wonderful array of craftspeople and artisans, musicians and service providers, and creates a very festive weekend. There are hundreds of miles of roads and trails in the Coronado National Forest and the Empire/Cienegas Preserve, and motorcycle touring clubs regularly include Sonoita and Patagonia on their weekend routes. Elgin is home to several wineries, growing grapes on the fertile prairie, and offering a wide variety of award-winning wines for your enjoyment, many of which are also available in local markets and restaurants. 

     In short, this area offers the unbeatable combination of a rich, rural lifestyle near the urban conveniences of Tucson, and just 35 minutes from the colorful border town of Nogales, Mexico. Experience the deeply clean air, the cooler summer days, a dusting of snow in winter. Savor the fresh well water and fragrant wines, and watch the clouds wreath the mountains. Breathe deeply, and know you have come home.

For more information about the Mountain Empire, please visit my Area Resources page.