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Weekend Wanderings...Sonoita, Eligin and Patagonia

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Terry Bishop Realty LLC

Tucson summer is here...temps are plus 100 and the humidity has brought monsoon weather.  The dew point has reached 54 for three successive days.    Tucsonians who want a respite from the warm weather often trek to Summerhaven, a small village in the Catalina Mountains at an elevation of about 8,000 feet.   But now that the pie lady is no longer,  going south for wine tastings is another option. 

   Sonoita, Elgin, and Patagonia are cool places, both in the euphemistic term and in the literal term.  At an elevation of about 5,000 feet and within 45 minutes from Tucson,  Sonoita is located off of I-10 traveling west on Naugle Avenue, otherwise known as State Highway 83.  Elgin is to the east of Sonoita about nine miles, and Patagonia is about 12 miles south on Route 82. 

   The three communities are surrounded by mountains and national forests; the Santa Rita Mountains, the Patagonia Mountains, and the Coronado National Forest.  Parker Canyon Lake, a popular recreational areas is to the south of Elgin on Route 83.  Patagonia hosts a word class birding area.

    Gently slopping grassy hills contrast with Tucson's craggy mountainous rocky terrain.   The topography is dramatically different and one understands immediately how Sonoita became a big horse country area.  The temperatures are cooler because of the elevation and in the winter, dustings of snow are not unknown occurances.

    The amount of rainfall is conducive to wine growing, combined with cool summer nights. Traveling the back roads, grape arbors are a common sight.  Several family owned wineries produce award winning Arizona wines.   A jaunt to Arizona wine country, less than an hour from Tucson, is an interesting, educational and fun Saturday or Sunday excursion.

    Known as the Mountain Empire, these areas also have small cafes and bistros which serve up vittles ranging from Mexican to gourmet, to cowboy.  There are art galleries, gift shops, bookstores, as well as an abundance of bed and breakfasts, including a bed and breakfast where you can also board your horse.

    The Mountain Empire Rotary, the Patagonia Area Business Association and the Sonoita/Elgin Chamber of Commerce offers a Mountain Empire Passport which provides discounts for many of the businesses in the area.  For additional information, contact Charlie Kentnor of Realty Executives at 520-455-5560 or Tom Anderson at 520-250-7205, both of whom can assist in obtaining a passport.

    Take a ride this weekend south...rather than to the Catalinas and enjoy what the Mountain Empire has to offer!

Resources:

http://www.patagoniaaz.com/

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