Rancho Los Banos, Eco-Adventure Guest Ranch in Sonora, Mexico

Rancho Los Banos is a 30,000 acre eco adventure guest ranch, nature preserve and working cattle ranch located at the foot of the Sierra Madre, a mere 60 miles south of southeast Arizona (town of Douglas) in safe, secure northeast Sonora, centered at the crossroads of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.

The ranch is a new generation guest ranch, combining traditional guest ranch activities with ecotourism, nature and adventure in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner, doing our best to minimize our footprint on a truly unspoiled wilderness by using “leave no trace behind” tactics, while at the same time providing great thrills, adventures, challenges, excitement and fun for our guests.

“We are a new generation guest ranch for a new generation adventure traveler.”

Combining the best of nature travel, adventure travel and guest ranch activities and adventures, Rancho Los Ba??os offers a unique and exciting travel destination, setting it apart from the typical Dude Ranch or guest ranch model. We offer adventure at every turn, whether you are horseback riding, hiking, kayaking, fishing, trekking, canyoneering, wildlife spotting, taking our adrenaline pumping jeep ecotours or simply enjoying miles of breathtaking scenery and landscapes.

We are not your typical resort guest ranch or Dude ranch. What we are is an original Mexican working cattle ranch enveloped by some of the most visually stunning and unspoiled scenery and landscapes anywhere. We are a unique ranch unlike any other, living life at the foothills of the Sierra Madre, in serene and isolated comfort, in complete safety and security, in relative proximity to Arizona, catering to adventure, outdoors, guest ranch and nature travelers, letting beautiful wilderness be our entertainment, combining modern adventure and nature travel ideas with new school, guest ranch thinking.

With our prices, packages and our otherworldly, exotic, unspoiled and scenic natural setting, combined with a Mexican flair, authenticity and hospitality that is second to none, you will have an adventure vacation that is as original, unique and exclusive as it is unparalleled. Indeed, there is nothing quite like Rancho Los Ba??os, and your vacation will be as unique, and exciting, as the ranch itself.

At Rancho Los Banos you will find a diverse array of desert flora and fauna, with habitats and elevations ranging between 3,200 and7,450 feet above sea level. Here you will see spectacular views that go on for miles. You will explore El Cajon Canyon, in our Canyon Lands, home to 2,000 year- old petroglyph caves and dwellings, 300-400 foot high sandstone cliff walls and a rich riparian ecosystem that allows for incomparable adventures, including bouldering through slot canyons with unique ecosystems, amid stunning beauty, up to stunning caves .

You will hike Cajon de las Piedras and Cajon de la Catedral, trekking these boxed canyons with incredible geologic formations, including cathedral-like structures and 400 foot high vertical canyon walls. Indeed, no two canyons, out of two dozen at the ranch, are the same. Each has a unique personality that makes each canyon a thrill to hike, a spectacular adventure that does not exist anywhere else on Earth.

With 30,000 acres as your personal playground, backcountry and beginner horseback riding offer almost unlimited hours of challenging, yet fun-filled adventure riding in remote, rugged and secluded isolation, surrounded by mountains, hills, canyons and some of the most unsurpassed, unspoiled wilderness you will ever see. With no signs of civilization, you will immerse yourself in our high desert or riparian, canyon environments, whether riding inside boxed canyons, river beds, vertical and rocky mountains, high elevation terrains and/or rolling foothills dressed in golden colored grass.

For beginners, our 80 miles of dirt roads, plus hundreds of miles of trails, present stunning vistas in an easy and relaxing ride. Riding at the ranch is truly an experience unlike any other, with the opportunity for peace, tranquility and serenity, working in tandem with one of our well-trained, well-mannered, sturdy and experiences horses.

Personalized, individualized and designed to your specifications, our rides will be a welcome change from your typical Disneyland-style, artifical, large group dude ranch riding experience. With our old school genuine Mexican cowboys as your guides, riding at Rancho Los Banos will become an unforgettable experience through incredible country, whether you are an experienced rider or an eager beginner.

As if our hiking and horseback riding adventures were not enough, you might climb 7,450 ft high El Pinito, which offers unparalleled views of the region and offers great hiking and birding all around its perimeter. You might canyoneer, boulder and trek through Cajon de la Catedral, a spectacular boxed canyon full of geological wonders. You might find yourself in awe of the beauty of Cajon de las Piedras or the rock formations of Cajon Aguaje.

At night, you might relax and enjoy some of the most awe inspiring views of the nighttime sky, including great views of the Milky Way.In a way, vacationing at Rancho Los Banos is like spending days at a National Park, without crowds, tourists,noise or pollution, a land serene, peaceful and thoroughly relaxing, miles away from ordinary.

With more than 80 miles of rugged, remote and maintained roads traversing all sections and habitats of the ranch, penetrating elevations ranging from 6,000 feet to 3,200 feet above sea level, combined with a fleet of 4×4 jeeps (Wrangler and Cherokee), Suburban, 4×4 pickups and a Suzuki crawler, you will find yourself looking down hundreds of feet into deep canyons and gorges.

Adrenaline pumping, heart stopping jeep tours will take you up hills and ravines, through river beds and onto roads hugging mountain sides, with precipices and sheer drops just feet away. As you tour the ranch, you will see a natural environment that has not changed in eons, with scenery and landscapes that will leave you in awe, with roads that will challenge your heart and mind.

Within a stone?s throw away is 20 mile long, isolated Lake Angostura, surrounded by unique mountain scenery, including Geronimo’s, and the Chiricahua Apache’s last Stronghold. Kayaking on the lake offers some of the best vistas, birding and bass fishing around, with opportunities to kayak through submerged canyons. At the southern end of the lake is the Bavispe River, a river that slithers dozens of miles down some of the most spectacular canyon scenery around. With its views and ecosystems, outdoors enthusiasts are sure to fall in love with this river.

With Rancho Los Banos as your base camp, you will experience scenery, adventure and activities that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Offering more than two dozen boxed canyon hikes, each distinct from the next, plus many other diverse habitat/elevation hikes, you will experience, quite simply, a return to Nature, to a period of times past, away from modernity, away from the stresses of daily life, into a world of sheer natural beauty.

Hiking, trekking, canyoneering, running, mountain biking, bouldering, geocaching and climbing your way through Canyon Country will be both a challenge and a thrill, sure to make for unforgettable adventures. These are some reasons why Rancho Los Banos is the ideal adventure travel destination. Quality eco adventure accommodation at affordable prices.

Hidden for centuries from the growth of humanity, protected by true conservationist and environmental stewards, Rancho Los Banos remains one of North America?s and the Southwest’s best kept secrets, a hidden jewel few have seen, a combination of natural beauty, unspoiled habitats, untamed land and serene peace and tranquility. Rancho Los Ba??os is truly a land that time forgot and is commonly described as a land ?lost in time,? ?the last frontier,? and ?some of the wildest country you will ever see.?

Visitors who have been guests here feel as if they have traveled back in time100 years, to a period where slow was good, stress was non-existent, nature was unsurpassed and unspoiled, and the world still seemed pure and uncorrupted. Guests feel interconnected with the land and its inhabitants, and appreciate the isolation and tranquility of being miles away from civilization. In fact, many guests have compared the scenery and terrain of the ranch to Zion, Big Bend and Sedona, though with its own unique landscape and otherworldly wilderness. Many guests feel as if they have enjoyed a vacation at their own personal National Park, a unique and original landscape that in unlike anything else on the planet.

Now, for the first time, this timeless, magical ranch is being opened to the public. The owners of Rancho Los Banos, the Valenzuela family, invite you to experience a work of art made by Nature itself. They invite you, in true Mexican hospitality, to pay Rancho Los Ba??os a visit. They feel that no masterpiece should be hidden from humanity, even one carved by the hands of time and the elements.

Rancho Los Banos, through its adventure subsidiary Tierra Chamahua EcoAdventures, has therefore opened its gates in the hope that this cherished land can be enjoyed by all. With offices located in Tucson, Arizona, we are eager to answer all your questions, take you down to the ranch, and show you the adventure of a lifetime.

At Rancho Los Ba??os, you are an individual, not a number or anonymous guest. Here you are a fellow nature lover, a fellow horseback rider, a fellow hiker, a fellow adventurer, a fellow nature photographer and a fellow outdoors enthusiast. Here, you are a fellow kayaker, trekker, canyoneer, adventure runner and backpacker. Here you are family, and a welcomed friend. Join us in celebrating the wonders only Nature can provide and envelope yourself in beauty that captures the mind and captivates the spirit, in adventures that make you feel alive, in a setting that replaces ordinary with extraordinary.

Here at Rancho Los Banoss we offer many unprecedented activities and adventures appealing to all ages, all abilities and all interests. Here at the Ranch we offer hiking, trekking, canyoneering, bouldering, climbing, geocaching, camping, bird watching, horseback riding, kayaking, boat tours, fishing, fly-fishing, jeep tours, thermal baths, ancient petroglyphs, mountain biking, nighttime safari, wildlife spotting, campfires and stargazing. We offer quiet solitude, rest, relaxation, peace, tranquility and an escape from modern life. We offer adventure in your vacation, an opportunity to leave ordinary and monotony behind and experience a place you will not soon forget. This is no ordinary vacation; this is Adventure Travel at its very best.

Whether your stay brings you here for a few nights or one week, for horseback riding or for hiking, for great bass fishing or for ancient petroglyphs, for rest and relaxation or for all-inclusive adventures, we know you will leave this magical land reenergized in mind, body and spirit, fully satisfied that your trip was a great experience to be repeated once again.

If your idea of a great time is spending life outdoors, exploring new environments, experiencing new adventures and sights, escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and relaxing in the peace and tranquility of Nature, then Rancho Los Ba??os is the vacation destination for you. Rancho Los Banos, unlike many working cattle ranches in the Southwest, caters to guests who love nature, adventure, tranquility, privacy and freedom.

We cater to individuals whose idea of getting away from the comforts of daily life is part of the experience, and the purpose of coming here. We cater to guests seeking new experiences and those who understand that we are only on Earth for one lifetime, that life is short and that we must take full advantage of our brief window of time. We cater to guests who see life as one giant adventure, and never want the adventure to stop.

Rancho Los Banos, through its adventure subsidiary Tierra Chamahua EcoAdventures, does not project itself as a ?Dude Ranch.? Here, you will not experience a ?cowboy,? ?Old West,? ?city slicker? feel. You will never be made to feel herded or corralled, controlled or patronized. You will see no fake smiles, fictional atmospheres or Hollywood-like productions. Here, we let Nature take center stage. Here, Nature is your entertainment.

At Rancho Los Banoss we strive to please every guest by providing them with the opportunity to experience nature, tranquility and adventure in the most ideal setting. It is for this reason that the maximum occupancy is designed to never exceed more than 8-12 guests at a time (larger groups can be accommodated). This will allow every guest to have the privacy, freedom and tranquility they seek. There will never be overcrowding, annoying tourists or long lines or waits.

Your personalized adventure itinerary (set up prior to your arrival both by you and an Adventure Consultant) will cater to you, for you have the freedom to choose what adventures or activities you want, based on the number of days you will stay with us, and of course on the adventures and activities you have selected. And, with such few guests staying at any one time, ranch guides, cooks and hosts will better be able to offer you the best in guest service.

The Valenzuela family invites you to explore the website and see for yourself what Rancho Los Banos, through Tierra Chamahua EcoAdventures, has to offer. See for yourself the possibilities that exist and the great times to be had. Watch our videos, see our photo slideshow, click on the multimedia page and browse our menu. Read some of the testimonials guests have sent us. And, as always, we encourage you to call or email one of our Adventure Consultants with questions and for additional information. One of Nature?s masterpieces awaits you.

What are you waiting for? Plan your trip, choose your adventure package, and prepare to feel, see and hear the power of Nature. Prepare to feel interconnected. Prepare to feel alive.

Get more information on Rancho Los Banos.

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