Wickenburg

Get Wild in Wickenburg and.

• Pan for gold at Robson's Arizona Mining World
• Play cowboy at an authentic dude ranch
• Take a desert sky ride in a hot air balloon
• Watch for birds at Hassayampa River Preserve
• Summit Vulture Peak
• Saddle up and ride to dinner
• Shoot for par at Los Caballeros Golf Course ranked among the nation's best by Golf Digest
• Tour the historic district, western art galleries and Old West buildings
• Soak up authentic culture at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum and the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts

Presenting perhaps the most complete Western experience in Arizona, Wickenburg is an excellent place to enjoy your vacation time - be it a day, week, month or lifetime.

Wickenburg beckons its visitors to be the cowboy they dreamed of as children. In fact, five distinct Wickenburg guest ranches offer complete Western experiences. City slickers can saddle up for horseback rides and cattle drives, strap in for four-wheel tours or float away on hot-air balloon rides.

Back at the ranch, guests enjoy gourmet meals, a refreshing dip in the pool or a relaxing round of golf - perhaps at one of Golf Digest's Top 75 Golf Courses in the country, Los Caballeros Golf Club.

In addition, many unique bed & breakfasts and hotels cater to the cowboy as well as the traveler.

The town motto of "Spend a Day, Out Wickenburg Way" is also backed up by a variety of Western art galleries, unique Western shops, historical attractions, Old West experiences, cultural activities and natural attractions.

The Desert Caballeros Western Museum is celebrating its 47th year and is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the history and art of Arizona and the West. It takes pride in being Arizona's Most Western Museum. The permanent collection includes Native American and late 19th- and 20th-century Western American paintings and sculptures. The museum also offers special exhibits, lectures, workshops, classes and tours.

The Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce has a map for a self-guided tour of downtown historic buildings, some dating back to the early 1900s, including the 111-year-old Santa Fe Depot, now the Chamber of Commerce office and Official Arizona Visitors Center.

Other notable attractions include a Santa Fe Steam Locomotive, a veteran of the rails between Chicago and the West; the Historic Garcia "Little Red School House," and the Jail Tree, a 200-year-old mesquite tree which once served as Wickenburg's jail. The Massacre Monument commemorates a somber moment in history, dedicated to lives lost in an 1871 stagecoach attack by bandits, mistakenly thought to be committed by surrounding Yavapai-Apache Indians.

Rising above the town is Vulture Peak, where one of the richest gold mines in Arizona was discovered. Today, Vulture Mine is a tantalizing remnant of mining history, showcasing original mining equipment and some of the old structures. Vulture Peak itself is an excellent, yet strenuous, hiking destination. The two-mile trail leads hikers just below the summit.

Mining buffs also should visit Robson's Arizona Mining World, showcasing the Nella-Meda gold mining camp. Along with antique mining equipment and historic buildings, displays show how the equipment was used to extract ore from the ground and process it. Visitors also may pan for gold or hike to prehistoric Indian petroglyphs etched in the ridge behind the town. For more than five decades, Wickenburg has hosted the annual Gold Rush Days in February in celebration of its ranching and mining heritage. Activities in the historic district include arts/crafts exhibits, gold panning, a senior professional rodeo and one of the largest parades in the state. The Chamber also produces annual events such as Fiesta de Septiembre, Wickenburg Fly-In & Classic Car Show, a Bluegrass Festival, Cowboy Christmas Poets Gathering and the popular "Christmas Parade of Lights." Call the Chamber for all of the special event information at 928.684.5479 or online at outwickenburgway.com

Wickenburg's natural treasures also include The Nature Conservancy's Hassayampa River Preserve, with its 230 species of birds including eagles. This riparian treasure includes spring-fed Palm Lake, a unique four-acre pond and marsh habitat. The beautiful and state-of-the-art 600-seat Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts, located on the campus of Wickenburg High School, has scheduled performances from October through May in a season of shows that reflect the diversity, beauty, energy and excitement of the performing arts.

For more information, go to www.outwickenburgway.com!