Ron and Ike ride across the Parade Grounds at Camp Rucker on their way to Red Rocks Canyon up in the Chiricahuas...

After a long healing spring and summer with rejuvenating monsoons, the Coronado National Forest is open again. Craig and Tell went for a quick ride through Horseshoe Canyon the other day, and found it to be as lush and lovely as always. Armed with an official US Forest Service permit, Hideout Ranch is ready to return to beloved trails in Rucker, Horseshoe, and Sulphur Canyons, as well as to historic Fort Bowie and the mind-numbing beauty of the Land of Standing Rocks - the Chiricahua National Monument.

Hideout Ranch is privileged to be the only ranch riding in this Southeastern corner of Cochise County in Arizona, and we have miles and miles of trails yet to explore. The mountains and desert are amazing in their resiliency, and we want you to Come Hideout… on horseback and experience it for yourself -

Kachina enjoys her own lunch at the top of Sulphur Canyon on a lovely spring day with the Doerrs along for the ride.

Kristen and Sebastian lead Annette and Ike toward Balance Rock at the amazing Chiricahua National Monument.

Sambora and Mickey Free nibble on the greening mountain side while we enjoy lunch under a convenient tree.

Sambora, the acknowledged Queen of the Hideout Herd, took an outing with our guest, Jean. We ambled along Owl Butte, marveling at the resilience of the desert after this spring’s forest fire. Along with Ike, Tell, and youngster Mickey Free, Sam enjoyed touring the Stone Circle, crossing and re-crossing the washes running with monsoon rains, and riding along a panoramic view of the valley. She loves to go on trail, and has more than a spring in her step. Two days later, she and Jean helped with roundup, keeping the young calves contained until we could coax them into the arena. Sambora remains true to her show name, “Stuff of Dreams”. You’ll meet her when you Come Hideout… on horseback.

In what is a recreation of her first photo, Sambora still has the sweetest, softest expression...

Susannah, a Hideout Longhorn, gazes wistfully across the range...

Having grown up on a small, irrigated pasture, Susannah and the other Longhorns are experiencing their first taste of true freedom on the thousands of acres the Hideout herd calls home. Like Rosie, Susannah is happy to be raising her calf in the wide open spaces with more cousins, uncles, and aunts than Billy-Bob and Tessie ever imagined.

You’ll have an opportunity for first-hand interaction with our bovine residents when you Come Hideout… on horseback.

Billy-Bob (l) and Tessie (r) are very curious about people, wanting very much to get closer - but not too close.

Warner challenges Billy-Bob to a friendly game of Push-Me-Push-You. See, Warner never really grew up, he just got bigger...

Last year, Ron and Jean enjoyed one of Hideout Ranch's favourite rides - historic Ft. Bowie.

August seems to always be a busy, busy month. And so it is at Hideout Ranch. Return guests Ron and Jean Balch joined us again from Michigan for a week of great riding, great food, and great adventures. They enjoyed The Bunkhouse at Hideout Ranch, sipping coffee on the back deck and watching favourite Westerns after another of Jerry’s delicious dinners. This year, they also mounted up and helped with Roundup!

Ron and his 2011 equine partner, Tell, rode along side his wife, Jean and Sambora - who made a rare appearance on the cattle range, and the other Hideout wranglers and neighbours. All eleven Angus calves were branded and tagged, and everyone was wormed and vaccinated. Run - who filled the alley and left no room to squeeze in the chute, he’s grown so big - and Shiloh had their missing tags replaced. And the Longhorns patently refused to participate.  Short work was made of it with many hands and four times as many feet pushing the herd through the alley and chute.

The steaks tasted particularly good that night as Jerry grilled them to perfection as our appetites were honed by the hard work of the day.

On a visit to The Tank, we were amused - as always - by the sight of the wee teeny calves with their huge signature Hideout red ear tags and their new brands still fresh.  It was a bittersweet roundup as the spectre of Woodrow grazed in the back of our minds. We remarked how proud he would be of his last calf crop, particularly Gideon who is a small, but growing, version of his dad…

Mary models her new brand, flashy red Hideout ear tag - and her mama's milk.

Gideon, Opal's first calf, is a miniature Woodrow...

Hideout Ranch rides the most beautiful forests and landscapes in the American Southwest. Join us as we wander under that star through canyons, across the range, and through historical sites like the Chiricahua National Monument and historic Fort Bowie. See the latest video, and others, at www.youtube.com/HideoutRanch/AZ

We set our inner cowboy on the trail to discovery - and found ourselves…

Craig and Tell show us the way down from the hidden meadows of Horseshoe Canyon...

Craig Lawson, Head Wrangler at Hideout Ranch, points out some breath-taking scenery on the Horseshoe Canyon trail.

Happy Fourth of July from Hideout Ranch. Cowboys are truly American, and few Americans treasure freedom more than cowboys. Ride along with Craig Lawson, Head Wrangler at Hideout Ranch, as he leads guests through a landscape that has always been free. As you watch him interacting with both guests and some of the marvelous horses we have at Hideout Ranch, you just may feel your own inner cowboy longing to ride the trail to discovery. You’ll find yourself - and so much more - when you Come Hideout… on horseback…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53r0t0T1GD4

Craig and Annette Doerr, frequent Hideout guest, gather for a ride down at Painted Pony...

Annette, Kristen, Beth, and Bob Doerr are mounted and ready to embark upon yet another Hideout Ranch adventure.

Hideout Ranch is a special place, made moreso by our special guests. Since February of 2010, The Doerrs have been part of the daily Hideout Ranch conversation. It was then Annette first contacted us about a family vacation - and eighteen months later, we recently bid them a rousing “See ya soon!” for the third time. At the invitation of Darley Newman of the Emmy-award winning Equitrekking, lifestyle and travel television, Annette captured in words the three adventures she, daughters, Kristen and Beth, and husband Bob have enjoyed in Southeastern Arizona.

All three Doerr girls have a calf named in their honour, with Sylvia’s newest heifer, Inez Annette completing that triumverate. Georgia is the last hope Bob has for a little bullcalf namesake this season. This guarantees they will always have a place at Hideout Ranch.

Please follow the link and read the chronicles of their visits to the ranch. She’s mighty persuasive, and you’ll want to have your own adventure to compare notes. We welcome all to Come Hideout… on horseback.

http://www.equitrekking.com/articles/entry/arizona-hideout-ranch-review/

Craig makes sure everyone is set before leading the Doerrs off on another trail through the sweeping, breath-taking of the Chiricahua Mountains.

Kristen and Cholo get in a schooling session over fences, taking advantage of the best footing in the desert.

Still having go, Kristen and her first love, Sebastian, look fabulous in warm-up.

Too cute by half, Doodle and Beth rock the fences, too..

Cap, a BLM Mustang from the Callaghan HMA, watches the goings-on at Hideout Ranch with a soft, gentle eye...

Hideout Ranch welcomes Cap, a true Wild West icon, to the herd. He went through the Extreme Mustang Makeover event in Norco, California in spring 2010, tying for second a point and a half off first. The trials and exercises he went through prepared him for the trails of Southeastern Arizona. Watching him interact with the other residents of Hideout Ranch has been quite amusing.

One morning, Craig went out to feed and was surprised (or maybe not) to see Po Campo and Bolivar curled up, sleeping next to the round pen. But when he stopped at Cap’s pen to drop grain and hay, Po came racing across the Livery Yard, ears flat to his head, screaming in protest that the new kid was getting breakfast when he and Bolivar weren’t. Craig laughed as Cap back-peddled to get away from the donkey daemon attacking him. A quick check reassured Craig all the clips were on the gate chains, so the mystery of how Bo and Po were IN the Livery and NOT the pasture persisted. Later, while Craig was watching, Bo and Po fell into line, walked down the path, and wound themselves through the pass-through gate in the fence line back into their pasture.

The daemons removed, Cap settled back down to enjoy his rye hay. At five, he has seen more than most of our horses, but remains calm, steady, and ready to join us on trail. Except having grown up in the Toiyabe range near Austin, Nevada where elevations run from 6,500′ feet in Grass Valley to the east and Reese River Valley to the west to Mt. Callaghan’s 10,200′ dissecting the valleys and canyons - Cap may think the Chiricahuas are merely hills…

Cap cleans up the smallest bit of the delicious rye hay from his feeder.

Hideout Ranch guests wait to embark on yet another adventure in the Chiricahuas on a beautiful September day in Arizona.

Hideout Ranch invites to join us - however virtually - on trail in the Chiricahuas and Peloncillos. Set your inner cowboy on the trail to discovery, and Come Hideout… on horseback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGHTsPPo7yM