Cochise County Arizona Trail Rides, Hikes and Towns
I live in Arizona in its most southeastern county of Cochise. This county is home to many famous locations: Tombstone of OK Corral gunfight fame; Bisbee with its mining history and ghost tour delights; Fort Huachuca, a major military installation in Arizona with its rich Buffalo Soldiers history; the City of Sierra Vista known as the hummingbird capital of the United States; the Coronado National Memorial that commemorates the first organized expedition into the Southwest by conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado; and the Chiricahua National Monument with its weird and wonderful rock formations. Honestly, these are just to name a few! These pictures are from the November 2019 visit with my BFF Robyn DeShields.
Travel blogger Heather Raulerson of Raulerson Girls Travel is our house guest. To date, my husband Ian and I have taken her to Old Bisbee and the Coronado National Monument. Our horses at home have also given Heather quite the welcome.
Old Bisbee is always charming and we grabbed a bite at the new location for Thuy’s Noodle Shop, which relocated from one end of Old Bisbee to the other. If you like Vietnamese food, this is a must-visit.
Experiencing Coronado is a different thing altogether. First, driving the 3+ winding miles to the upper-most parking lot, followed by the continued hike to the top of the Montezuma Overpass at Coronado reminded me that I’d prefer to do these types of activities on horseback. Lord, I felt out of shape! Not that I don’t need to be in shape to ride, but I know if I had been riding, I would have made fewer pitstops to take in views from the strategically placed benches while catching my breath. My bellyaching aside, the views are magnificent and well worth the huffing and puffing.
I bought a map at the Coronado National Monument gift shop that outlines all the hiking and horseback riding trails right here near home. I’ve been both riding and hiking in Brown Canyon and Carr Canyon, but clearly, I need to get out more to explore both my riding and horse camping opportunities. As Ian will tell you, it will certainly be breaking news if I go horse camping!
Let me know where you go. I’d be happy to share it with other blog readers. Thanks.