Half Moon Ranch
Dragoon, Cochise County, Arizona. Cabin Electric.
Details
- Where
- Dragoon, Cochise County, AZ. No street address stated. Directions
- Season
- Reservation dates subject to weather conditions.
- Getting there
- From Tucson: Take I-10 east to Exit #318 (Dragoon Road). Turn right onto Dragoon Road and travel for approximately 10 miles through the village of Dragoon to the Cochise Stronghold Road. Turn right on Cochise Stronghold Road and travel for approximately 6 miles to Ironwood Road. The paved road dead ends at Ironwood Road. Turn right, and travel for approximately 3 miles to the first creek crossing. The entrance to the Half Moon Ranch is on the left just beyond the crossing.
- Access
- Access to the house is through a locked gate; the gate has a combination lock, and the house key is located in a lock box on the kitchen door. The combinations for the gate and the lock box are provided once a reservation is made. Pets are NOT permitted inside or outside the cabin. The cabin is a no-smoking facility. Cleaning service is NOT provided.
- Walk-in or reserve
- Reservations required through Recreation.gov; cabins do not honor Golden Passport Discounts.
- Phone
- (520) 364-3468
- Website
- recreation.gov
- Managed by
- US Forest Service.
- Coordinates
- 31.9463547299256, -109.955386599526.
The paved road dead-ends at Ironwood Road. From there the way runs about three miles to the first creek crossing, and just beyond it, on the left, is the entrance to Half Moon Ranch. A combination lock holds the gate, and the house key waits in a lock box on the kitchen door. A passenger car can make the road, though the Forest Service recommends high clearance.
The house is a seven-room ranch house in the Coronado National Forest, about nine miles west of Sunsites and an hour and a half east of Tucson. It sleeps up to nine. The master bedroom has a queen bed, the second bedroom a twin and a full, and the living room two double futons beside rocking chairs and a wood stove. The dining table seats six, and a dinette in the kitchen seats four more. There is electricity, running water, and a picnic table outside. The Forest Service supplies no firewood, and the indoor fireplace is not maintained for use. Guests bring their own food, bedding, towels, matches, and toilet paper, and they sweep and mop before they leave. A cabin manual inside covers the house and the country around it. Scorpions and snakes may turn up at any time.
East of the house stand a barn and corrals with covered storage for hay. Up to six horses or mules may be kept there on certified weed-free feed. At the far west end of the pasture is a helispot that emergency crews use from time to time for rescues.
Climbers have long come to this canyon for the rock. Routes run from one to seven pitches and are rated 5.6 to 5.12. Most approaches take 30 to 60 minutes, though some climbing areas lie close to the road. The nearby Cochise Stronghold Campground has interpretive material on the area’s natural and cultural history. The range itself is what the Forest Service calls a “sky island,” rising from the desert floor at 5,000 feet. Its granite spires, sheer cliffs, balanced rocks, and boulders form a protective rampart that was once the refuge of the Apache chief Cochise.