Dead Horse Ranch State Park AZ

March 1, 2012 - We left the Holiday Palm RV Resort in Quartzite at 9:00, it was sunny and 11ºC. We drove the I-10 E. to Brenda and turned on AZ-60, along the Harquahala Mountain Range, through desert, hills and valleys to an elevation of 1600 ft.

At 11:00 am we stopped to fuel up at Wickenberg $4.19/ gal. Wickenburg was situated in a valley and spread for miles. From there we took AZ-60 to AZ 74 NE. As we skirted around Phoenix the view was greener with many Saguaro cactus. Road construction that held us up for a fifteen minutes.

The drive through mountains roads were getting up to an elevation of 3450-4000 ft. At noon we were north of Phoenix before we merged onto I-17 N. towards Flagstaff. It was a double lane highway all the way to Cottonwood.

We were in Verde Valley and as we turned onto AZ-89A towards Cottonwood in a valley which opened up to dry yellow colour hills. 

We arrived at Dead Horse Ranch State Park at in the early afternoon. Randal had registered a site online for a week, so it was easy to settled in #100 reserved pull-through site at $25.00/night. The park is almost full with tents, small and big rigs in good size sites, among 'prickly pear' cactus and a few trees.

 
'The developed portion of dead Horse Ranch State Park covers 423 acres. The 3300 ft. elevation accounts for the mild temperatures that are ideal for camping, mountain biking in the Coconini National Forest, hiking along the Verde River, canoeing, picnicking, fishing or just wading in the cool water.'

 
'How the park got it's name - The Ireys family came to Arizona from Minnesota looking to buy a ranch in the late 1940s. Because this ranch had a dead horse on it, the family decided to buy it and call it Dead Horse Ranch. In 1973, when Arizona State Parks acquired the park, the Ireys made retaining the name a condition of sale.'--- brochure information.

We are going to enjoy our early two mile walks on the many hiking trails in the camping area . Our day- adventures will take us in and around Sedona, just 30 miles from here. 

 
We rate this area as a five star place to enjoy nature at it's best any time of year.


So until next time remember to “Discover It and Live It”.