The Adventure of Going Places in Arizona's Mountain Empire

Go, Go, Go Where you want to go                         Do   What you want to do . . .

Some people used to say: “It's not the destination, it's the journey.“ 

Well, we believe it's both more than ever before:    

the destinations and the journey.

Getting here takes you into and throughout Southeastern Arizona – South on I-19 or I-10 to Route 83 from Phoenix and Tucson or westerly on Route 82 from Bisbee, Tombstone, and Sierra Vista, northward from Nogales and Mexico and into Santa Cruz County eventually onto the 52.5-mile Scenic Patagonia-Sonoita Highway State Route 82, one of Arizona's outstanding scenic drives that connects The Mountain Empire towns of Elgin, Sonoita and Patagonia.

The journey starts wherever you are – you find the reasons to come here.

You can Step Back, Relax and Stay A While or you can Step Ahead into small towns and communities that have chosen to keep their own pace with time – regenerating the future here and now . . .

Places where you can both relax and energize as so many visitors do on hiking paths and trails in national forests Coronado National Forest, state parks Arizona State Parks, manged lands Bureau of Land Management, cycling and biking on roads and trails, spotting rare birds in their natural habitats along tThe Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve  at Paton's Hummingbird House, inside Patagonia Lake State Park, or in the canyons and hills of The Patagonia Mountains and The Santa Ritas.

Go & See: The Nature Conservancy Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve down Blue Heaven off of 4^th Avenue, Patagonia Lake State Park and Sonoita Creek State Natural Area seven miles west of town, and The Coronado National Forest(hit the link above)

Places you can relax on a day trip spending some time in the Patagonia Town Park or meandering in the center of town at the outstanding galleries and shops offering the works of local artists and gifts from around the world

Go & See: The Old Santa Fe Pacific Rail Road Depot at the east end of the park, Richardson Heritage Park with a children's playground on McKeown & 4^th Avenues, The Butterfly Garden and The Memorial Garden - to small "pocket parks" on the south side of the park, The Patagonia Marshall's Office built by the WPA back in the 1930's, 3 Sears & Roebuck Mail-order Bungalow Houses on the north side of Naugle Avenue just east of Third. 
Close by you'll find Grayce's Gift & Candle Shop and Galeria de Los Muertos/Day of The Dead Museum, and on Duquesne Avenue two blocks south of the park on Duquesne Avenue east of Third see The Valenzuela House built by an early Mexican-American family patriarch, Cady Hall/Patagonia Public Library, an example of an historic restoration and one of only two locations here on the National Register of Historic Places, on the opposite side of the avenue you'll see Lopez Pool Hall that was a popular gathering spot way-back-when, and The Duquesne House, now a Bed & Breakfast but once housing miners during Patagonia's days as a mining town.

Places where you can relax in the evenings and over the weekends, or longer, at any number of bed-and-breakfasts and overnight accommodations in town or a short walking distance, or more secluded and private get-aways in historic properties and ranchlands in the Mountain Empire towns of Patagonia, and Sonoita-Elgin. An online listing of "Beds of Patagonia" can be found by going to this link Beds of Patagonia.
You can also pick up a take-away brochure in the Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center at 317 McKeown Avenue in Patagonia

Go & Stay: The Stage Stop Inn is Patagonia's only hotel with 43 rooms. Additional lodging can be found at Casita Frontera, The Sheffield Manor, The Enchanted Garden, The Black Dove B&B, Hacienda Corona de Guevavi in Nogales, Xanadu Ranch, Sonoita Inn, Hacienda de Sonoita and the Walker Guest Ranch all in Sonoita, and The Spirit Tree Inn B&B down Harshaw Road here.
Those accommodations that belong to the local area business association can be found with this link for lodging: Lodging in The Mountain Empire

Go & Eat: The Velvet Elvis and Mercedes on Naugle Avenue, The Home Plate inside The Stage Stop Inn www.TheStageStopInn.com, and Gathering Grounds all on McKeown Avenue within easy walking distance and close parking.

Local Shopping: Camel Parts and Metamorphosis Gallery Metamorphosis Gallery in Patagonia, AZ on Naugle Avenue.

In the Stradling Building at 315-317 McKeown Avenue you'll find Global Arts Gallery, Mariposa Books, The Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center, and Creative Spirit Artists.

Mesquite Grove Gallery and Shooting Star Pottery are a pleasant walk down the block south of the town park before 4^th Avenue.

If you have the time while you're in town, head east on McKeown Avenue as it turns into Harshaw Road just after the post office.You'll drive by the entrance to The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in about half a mile [a holistic and spiritual retreat area].  Paved roads continue for a while past the trail head to The Arizona Trail that runs from the Mexico Border to Utah, then turn into well-maintained local and fire roads with signage that will point you to ranches and points of interest. Please respect all signs for private property and no trespassing in your travels

Harshaw Road Gateway leads  to five abandoned "ghost towns' that bear silent witness to the bust-and-boom cycles  left over from the long-lost mining economy in the region. Ranching traditions still continue in the area on private lands sharing boundaries with the Coronado National Forest. The San Rafael Valley is a magnificent landscape - one of the last remaining intact grasslands in North America and the Headwaters of The Santa Cruz Valley - a prime location for many Hollywood versions of The American West. One local enterprise,  San Rafael Valley Natural Grass-Fed Beef  on some 7,000+ acres of the original San Rafael de Zanja Land Grant, is regenerating the legacy landscape and carrying on the traditions of cattle-ranching.