Empire Ranch Trail Run

"Are we having fun? Who doesn’t like a little mud and cow pies? Seriously it was GREAT to be out, gorgeous views and the weather was perfect. The weather forecasters wanted to stress us but it didn’t work. Thank you and the Ranch for all the work in organizing it."  M.O.

January 26 Updates: Thank you to the almost 700 participants!

Here's the emailed race report that we sent to participants in the Empire Ranch Trail Run.  

Click here for the BLM post-race statement.

Results: Results can be found at the link above and here. Thanks to Roadrunner Race Timing.

Awards: If you did not pick up your award at the post-race ceremony, all Running Shop gift certificates can be picked up through the end of February at The Running Shop, 3055 North Campell Avenue, Tucson.

Photos: Damion Alexander's photos can be found at his smug mug page here.

Race Director snapshot photos can be found at the link above.

Remaining Shirts and Medals: if you did not pick up your shirt or purchased medal, you can pick them up through the end of February at The Running Shop, 3055 North Campell Avenue, Tucson.  Shirts are on a first-come, first-served basis.  A list with the names of those who purchased a medal is at the Running Shop.  For now, we cannot sell any additional souvenir medals.

January 16 Update: check out the national press release announcing the Empire Ranch Trail Run.

Save the date for this exciting new run/walk event!  The Empire Ranch Trail Run will include a 10k Trail Run, a 5k Trail Run/Walk, and a 1 mile family-friendly trail walk/run. 

Produced by Run Tucson in partnership with the Empire Ranch Foundation and the Bureau of Land Management, this is the first-ever running event held at the Historic Empire Ranch on the beautiful Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.

With demonstrations and displays depicting ranch life and the history of the Historic Empire Ranch, the Trail Run kicks off the Empire Ranch Foundation's yearlong 150th anniversary celebration and will honor America's 250th anniversary.  

Raising funds for the Empire Ranch Foundation to protect, restore, and sustain the Empire Ranch historical buildings and landscape as an outstanding western heritage and education center.

Whether you run, walk, volunteer, or just want to be watch and cheer, there will be fun for everyone! 

The Empire Ranch Headquarters is magnificently situated in the high Sonoran Desert and rolling grasslands of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area (LCNCA), located just 50 miles southeast of Tucson, and 10 miles north of Sonoita. The historic Empire Ranch has been a working cattle ranch for almost 150 years. Its rich history includes successive ownership by two prominent ranching families, two corporations, and finally by the federal government on behalf of the general public. Its history is briefly summarized below by ownership era.
 

The Empire Ranch Headquarters buildings and outdoor areas are open daily to visitors from sunrise to sunset. The Visitor Contact Center and Gift Shop, located on the west side of the Empire Ranch House, is open most weekends, during docent tours, volunteer workdays, and special events. Click here to learn what you can experience at Empire Ranch Headquarters. Click here for a schedule of upcoming events and more details.

Las Cienegas National Conservation Area (LCNCA) is open to the public 365 days a year. We recommend visiting during daylight hours, since the buildings and yards have no artificial lighting. There is no charge for entry and permits are not generally required to visit LCNCA. However, commercial, competitive, and large organized group events require a special recreation permit. Permits are generally required if the group number is over 29, or if the activity needs BLM oversight or will have an impact to public lands and people. Click here for more detailed information about BLM permits.

While often providing serenity and quiet, several times during the year special events are hosted by the Empire Ranch Foundation including a Fall Cowboy Festival, Horse Trail Rides, western movies, and educational outreach events for youth. More information on these activities can be found on our Event Calendar.

LAND HISTORY AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Our running events take place throughout Arizona, including in Southern Arizona at Saguaro National Park, the Biosphere 2 in Oracle, in Downtown Tucson, near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and at Old Tucson Studios.  Regarding the trail run at Old Tucson, we recognize that Old Tucson Studios seeks to create a simplistic, mythic version of what some call the American West, focusing primarily on the later decades of the 19th century.  We recognize further that some of the attractions of Old Tucson, such as mock gun fights and saloon singing, may be considered inappropriate to some.

We respectfully acknowledge that these lands have been peopled for thousands of years and that this beautiful desert has long been a sought-after landscape, with human habitation dating back at least 12,000 years.  In Southern Arizona, according to the Tucson Indian Center, "The Tucson area has long been the traditional site for Indian settlements. From the Archaic and Hohokam Indians, to the Tohono O’odham and Yaqui, the waters of the Santa Cruz River and the surrounding fertile land attracted desert dwelling tribes" (https://www.ticenter.org/history,  retrieved January 1, 2023).  

Clashes on this borderlands include Spanish first arriving in the 1530's, raids by Apache and Comanche throughout the 1700's and 1800's, and even the Confederate army fighting in the desert during the American Civil War.

For additional information, we refer to the Friends of Saguaro National Park website (https://www.friendsofsaguaro.org/nativepeoples, retrieved January 1, 2023): Human habitation in the Tucson Basin dates back approximately 12,500 years -- to the Pleistocene Age.  The first people were likely descended from those who migrated across a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska;  bands of hunters were roaming the desert grasslands of southern Arizona by about 10,000 BC.  Archeologists have concluded that sites found in the Tucson Basin, along the Santa Cruz River, likely represent the oldest, continuously inhabited area in the United States. About 2,300 years ago, a group we now call the Hohokam had settled in southern Arizona -- including the Santa Cruz valley.  By AD 700, they had a well-developed agricultural economy including extensive irrigation systems.

Archeological finds in the Rincon Mountain District of Saguaro National Park show that Hohokam villages existed there for about 600 years -- along Rincon Creek and its tributary washes.  Then, during the 15th century, the Hohokam culture simply vanished.

Contemporary native peoples that would constitute the ethnographic history of the Park include:

Akimel O'odham (also known as Pima)
Apache
Hopi
Maricopa
Yaqui
Tohono O'odham ("Desert People")
Yavapai
Zuni

For those interested, The Desert Museum offers insights on the Spanish and Mexican contact in the region here: https://www.desertmuseum.org/members/sonorensis/week9.php.  

For additional information about local tribal lands, see http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/ and https://itcaonline.com/member-tribes/pascua-yaqui-tribe/ and https://heard.org/education/arizona-indian-communities/.   

For those interested in making the running community more accessible, inclusive, and visible for all, you may wish to read about the Running on Native Lands Initiative at  https://www.risinghearts.org/nativelands.    You can also visit https://native-land.ca.  For additional materials, perhaps see the recommended books here: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/10/09/honoring-indigenous-peoples-recommended-reads. 

Here are some snapshots from a visit to the Empire Ranch as we scouted possible routes . . . 

Trails in the Tucson Area

Our goal is to celebrate the great outdoors, so find a trail and get out!  You can walk or run on urban trails like the Bridal Paths in Central Park NYC or on wilderness trails like the Pacific Crest Trail -- or anything in between!

Here in Tucson, we have some of the most beautiful trails in the country.

Click here for a link to the trails posted by Pima County.  

Click here of a map of the Tucson Mountain Park Trails on the west side of the Tucson basin.

Click here for a map of Colossal Cave Park Trails on the east side of the Tucson basin. 

Click here for a map of Saguaro National Park East and West trails

More coming soon . . .