Area Info
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.
The Mountain
Empire’s history includes cattle ranching and mining
for precious ore, colonization by the Spanish padres,
battles with Apaches and peaceful habitation by other
native peoples. Many movies have been filmed here – the
setting is often used for its resemblance to Wyoming
and its much milder climate!
In today’s world, the Mountain Empire is still
rural, but offering the basic conveniences
and
a few award-winning restaurants and wineries. Its higher elevation (roughly 5000
feet) offers a cool haven within easy reach of hotter Tucson’s more metropolitan
attractions. The climate is nearly ideal. In the summer, which is the green and
rainy season, you’ll often find Sonoita 15 degrees cooler than Tucson.
Spring and autumn are dry and sometimes windy, and bring fields of colorful wildflowers and occasional touches of fall color. Winter days are generally mild, with the obligatory week of cold snap sometime in November or December and an occasional light snowstorm whose traces quickly vanish in the sunshine.
