arizona key magazine - concierge corner

Concierge Corner Metro Tucson

Johnny Fenton, M.A.
Concierge, Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa

Each day the southern Arizona sun rises on new visitors to cactus country who’re looking for the scoop on its diverse charms and amusements. The concierges are often a key to finding answers to guests’ questions – both basic and bizarre! Our tourists’ most frequent queries and these area travel authorities’ replies will appear in this column.

Q. What are some of Arizona’s guest ranches and ghost town’s we can tour?

A. Say guest ranch or ghost town to a lot of our visitors to the Southwest, and they brighten up like a lighthouse in the fog!

One of the San Pedro Valley’s best kept secrets is a unique Old West ghost town and movie set complete with museum—Gammons Gulch! In southeastern Arizona, those in the know just north of Benson will tell you to find this hodgepodge and its creators Jay and Joanne Gammons “at the turn off for the donkey rescue and sanctuary.” This translates to exit 306 off Interstate 10. Six movies were made here last year in this hand-built western hamlet of 17 authentic buildings including a firehouse, hotel, jail, Chinese laundry, saloon, and working blacksmith shop. But the real feature is Jay Gammons who’s built his dream ghost town over the past 35 years and stars in its tale of nostalgia as an eloquent and passionate guide with an engaging and witty turn of the phrase. Gammons whose father was John Wayne’s bodyguard and a deputy in Tombstone, landed his first movie role as a child in “Rio Bravo” earning $15 a day. While he has hauled many of the town’s 7500 artifacts in on the back of his black 1929 Ford pickup truck, over 3000 of the antiques and much of the lumber has been donated by awestruck world travelers, and history buffs. Cowboy movie memorabilia, rooms full of ghost town books, antique cars and rifles, Apache, Zuni and Papago basketry abound. Wet your whistle with a soft drink as Gammons performs his nimble rendition of ragtime on one of the five antique pianos in this captivating reincarnation of an Arizona ghost town. (520) 212-2831 www.gammonsgulch.com

The frontier town of Wickenburg in western Arizona at the junction of Routes 93 and 60, has earned its title as “The Dude Ranch Capital of the World.” And the historic Rancho de los Caballeros, still operated by the original owners’ family, helped stake this claim. Enjoy spectacular views of the Bradshaw Mountains at the ranch from its tennis courts, golf course, spa or on horseback. Nature hikes and bird watching are regular features. And the ranch offers a fully automatic trap and skeet range. Tour the remains of the old Vulture Mine camp that city founder Henry Wickenburg discovered 138 years ago which was the largest gold strike in the State’s history. And if you’re intrigued by the “Code of the West”, ask for directions to the 200-year-old mesquite tree, known as the “jail tree,” that was used from 1863 to 1890 as a place to chain trespassers before the town had a jail. (800) 684-5030 www.SunC.com

If you and the family have only got a day to dip your toe into a true Western experience then this kind of “lightening in a bottle” can be enjoyed just 20 minutes from scenic Sedona in northern Arizona at the Blazin’ M Ranch in Sycamore Canyon. Located along the banks of the Verde River in Cottonwood, the excitement begins at 5:00 p.m. when you open a gate into the Old West courtyard where the Mabery family hosts an evening in the Old West. Slip into the street scene and enjoy a generous dose of Western sights and activities including horseshoe pits, shooting gallery, train ride, friendly farm animals and a mechanical roping horse. Climb into some humorous and romantic costumes of the late 1800’s and then take home a photo of your escapades for the family album. Enjoy the gift shop and a stroll through the Blazin’ Ms’ one-of-a-kind Wood ‘N’ West Gallery where hand-carved historical scenes bring the Old West to life. The dinner bell rings in the old barn at 6:30 when guests are treated to a fill ‘em up chuckwagon grubstake piled high on tin plates. Then put down your tin cup and kick back to enjoy the harmonies of the Blazin’ M Cowboys who lasso their audience without a rope in an hour-long stage production that interweaves cowboy music, storytelling, comedy and surprise guests. (800) 937-8643 www.blazinm.com

[Johnny Fenton—a 28-year resident of Arizona—is past President of the Southern Arizona Concierge Network, National Concierge Association member and freelance writer.]