The Empire Ranch Headquarters is a wonderful place to visit here in Las Cienegas. It is the site of a cattle ranch established in the 1870's and was given over to the federal government in 1988 as an historical site. It is also the only place here where there is potable water. And there is a restroom there, too! I didn't really know what to expect, but it turned out to be a great "museum" of a ranching house and establishment. You can take a self-guided tour around the grounds, even walking through most of the rooms of the house, and wander through the outbuildings (those that are safe, that is).
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| View from inside the ranch house |
Something I haven't seen before: there is a little hand-crank contraption that shares audio information about the ranch. We learned that many Hollywood movies, with actors like Maureen O'Hara, Burt Lancaster, and John Wayne, were filmed at the ranch and its surrounds, as well as Bonanza and other TV show episodes. Then we got tired of cranking it and didn't learn anymore.
There is also a .5 mile discovery trail that takes you back behind the ranch complex down to the nearby stream and some huge cottonwood trees.
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| The Heritage Discovery Trail |
We spent the rest of the day driving on 4-wheel drive roads, just exploring the area. Unfortunately, the area's roads are not all signed, and the points of interest shared on the map billboards are likewise not well signed, so we didn't find the places we were looking for. We'll research some more on the internet, and see if we can locate some of the tomorrow. Also, the extent of the "wildlife" we encountered was not as wild as we would have liked:
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| Pigeons at the Empire Ranch site |
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| Cows. |
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| A calf lying under a tree - Mom got a little concerned and started heading our way, so we got out of there! |
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| Cows. One resting. One eating. |
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