Aravaipa Farms
A Bed & Breakfast Country Inn

Enchanting, mysterious, inspirational - a lost paradise found... are the words guests use to describe their experience at this charming bed and breakfast Country Inn. Enjoy incredible bird watching, hiking or simply relaxing in this beautiful Arizona Sonoran desert wilderness preserve.

"I know it's hard to believe that I am at a loss for words - and I'm a writer.
But sometimes less is just plain more. Words would simply guild the lily.
Sort of trying to paint the Grand Canyon, it can never be done adequately."
Betty Marvin, Arizona Highways Publication.

Carol Steele, 1992 inductee into the Phoenix-Scottsdale Culinary Hall of Fame, weaves her magic in creating an Inn experience that tantalizes all your senses from...

• Bourbon chicken aromas permeating the dining area while you sip wine and talk to your hostess before dinner.
• Tastes of National Award winning lunches and dinners gleaned from her extensive international travel and upscale restaurant experience.
• Natural sounds permeating the air from trickling water from many eclectic fountains to the songbirds that will start your day.
• Your eyes dancing in a veritable museum of folk art - Persian Kilim rugs, paintings, hand-painted tiles from her own studio and much more.
• Sensing the mystery and ultimate privacy that is both unique and rare only hours from two large cities.

Aravaipa Canyon located 2 1/2 hours SE of Phoenix, Arizona and 1 hour North of Tucson is known worldwide for its dense biodiversity and spring fed pristine creek that weaves through the canyon. Located next to the Aravaipa Wilderness Preserve, it is home to a hundred butterfly species, 400 bird species, 93 mammals, and 47 amphibians and reptiles - the greatest diversity of vertebrates in the U.S. and the second highest land-mammal diversity in the world.

You will begin your experience as you turn off the road from Highway 77, south of Superior, Arizona and onto Aravaipa Road leading to the Aravaipa Wilderness Preserve and Carol Steele's Inn. The paved road will soon end and you find yourself on a winding well-maintained dirt road. This road takes you through high stands of saguaros with beautiful vista views at every turn and soon you will see the creek winding through the canyon forming a natural riparian habitat. The creek is surrounded by large old sycamore trees, cottonwood trees and natural grasses. You may catch sight of the great blue heron as colonies call Aravaipa their home.

Carol's inn and orchard farm is located across the creek, so you will enjoy the actual experience of crossing the creek. The creek usually is no more than a foot deep, easy access for most vehicles. After crossing the creek, you will drive through the peach orchard and up to the Inn.

The Main House is a charming burnt adobe ranch house where you will check in. Carol lives in this home in which the colors and textures of the Southwest abound in the rustic eclecticism of Carol's unique decorating style. You will see folk art, antiques, fossils, paintings and a library of over 300 cookbooks.

• Behind the main house is an organic garden and greenhouse supplying Carol with the fresh herbs, vegetables, berries and grapes she uses to prepare hearty and delicious meals.
• Behind the garden is the hen house made from driftwood and chicken wire which takes on the air of a casual cathedral, but also provides a bounty of fresh eggs for the kitchen.

A fitting close for your day, as you walk to your casita, is to view the magnificence of the stars unhindered by city lights. On moonless nights, the Milky Way and all the constellations can be seen in all their splendor, depth and dimensions. Sleep well in the desert quiet only broken by gentle breezes ruffling through the trees and trickling water fountains.

For added enjoyment and relaxation, all casitas at the Inn are phone and television free. Guest should note that most cell phones are unable to send or receive a signal inside the canyon. A telephone is located in the dining room for guests to make calls since cell phones do not function in the canyon.

The Inn is available for small Weddings, Family gatherings, Retreats, Corporate meetings.

From Phoenix - take highway 60 east toward Superior. At Superior take highway #177 to Winkleman. Turn right onto Highway #77 in Winkleman. Proceed 10 miles south to mile marker #124.

From Tucson - take highway #77 north toward Winkleman. Proceed 10 miles north of Mammouth to mile marker #124.

From Phoenix - at mile marker #124 (sign for Central Arizona College) turn left onto E. Aravaipa Road. From Tucson you make a right turn onto E. Aravaipa Road.

You are now approximately 8 miles from your destination. The first 4.5 miles is paved road and the remaining is on dirt road.

On the right hand side of the driveway there is a rusty, tall sign that says ARAVAIPA FARMS. On the left hand side of the driveway are 2 mailboxes (Steele, 89395). From the top of the driveway you can see the creek, the orchard and beyond the orchard several buildings, particularly a red one (formerly the old barn) that houses two of the casitas and a dining room. Proceed down this steep driveway which makes a sharp right hand turn at the bottom to cross the creek.

Cross the creek (at times there may be water running in several spots). You will come to a green gate. Proceed through the gate (please close the gate) and the orchard. Carol's house is the brick house behind the tamarisk trees where you check in upon arrival. Welcome, your adventure to Aravaipa has begun.

The Inn also reflects the unique history of Aravaipa - sacred home to Geronimo and the Apaches, hardy pioneer homesteaders, Basque Angora sheepherders and traditional old west cattleman.

A European style continental breakfast that you will find in your room each morning consisting of: home-made granola, orchard fruits in season, a selection of imported cheeses, fresh yogurt, English muffins with fresh butter and jams prepared from Carol's jam kitchen, Carol's Sunset Magazine award winning moist and flavorful Morning Banana Nut Cake, and fresh roasted coffee and a selection of teas.

Lunch is a wonderful picnic to be enjoyed either on your own patio, or by your fireplace, one of the palapas on the creek or on a Canyon hike. Delicious sandwiches, fruit, trail mix, nibbles from the garden and homemade cookies. Gourmet sack lunches can be prepared on request for guests who plan to hike the Aravaipa Canyon or simply take a walk around the property.

Dinner served at 7 pm will truly be memorable and captivates both local and world traveled guest. Carol, a 1992 inductee into the Phoenix/Scottsdale Culinary Hall of Fame, takes American comfort food cuisine to a new level. Sample entrees include: grilled salmon, roast chicken glazed with a sauce of bourbon, soy ginger and garlic, garden fresh salads, vegetables invariably fresh and perfectly prepared, bread hot from the oven, desserts often highlight from the orchard, such as pear crisp with rasberry sauce. Guest are welcome to bring wines or other beverages of their own selection.

"An old proverb says - Eat an Asian Pear and you will live forever...
while here you can actually believe it is a possibility"
said one guest after eating a delicious pear crisp desert.

Enjoy Carol Steele's 300 acres of pristine Sonoran desert canyon land
that surrounds the Inn. Activities include:

Hiking

Roll up your pants legs and hike and wade through the clear and cool Aravaipa creek that runs through Carol's property.

For more serious hikers, the Arizona Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Nature Conservancy manage the Aravaipa Wilderness Preserve located three miles up the creek from the Inn. The BLM allow 30 people a day to hike the 12 miles of canyon from one end of the preserve to the other. Be prepared to spend most of the day slogging up the middle of the creek, or crossing repeatedly from one bank to the other. Other canyons intersecting with the Aravaipa contain rare and beautiful ferns and other plants in varying microclimates throughout the canyon tributaries. Because only 30 people are allowed into the Aravaipa Wilderness Preserve a day, the BLM requires reservations be made three months in advance. Please call the BLM in Safford, Arizona (520) 348-4400 and make reservations for a permit prior to your stay. http://www.az.blm.gov or http://www.azcentral.com or http://www.bpbasecamp.com

Bird Watching

For amateur and serious "birders", Aravaipa is a birdwatchers paradise attracting over 400 species of birds, earning the designation by the American Bird Conservancy as the best birding in the country. The great blue heron has several colonies living along the Aravaipa year round and can be seen almost daily. Rare raptors such as Mississippi kites and a variety of hawks including the Zone-tailed, Gray and Black hawks are seen at various times throughout the year. Numerous colorful migrating birds stop at the Aravaipa on their way to their ultimate destinations including bright red Cardinals. Hummingbirds dart in and out all day long feeding on the nectar of the saguaros and flowering desert plants. The Inn provides plenty of reasons for birds to visit with Carol's whimsical bird houses made from the creek's natural materials are everywhere and hummingbird feeders beckoning these little creatures to visit.

Wildlife Watching

You can simply sit outside your patio and watch abundant wildlife and many endangered species. The main house contains the book "A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert" a publication from the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum, describing all the biodiversity and astonishing creatures you will find in Aravaipa and nearby San Pedro river. There are a hundred butterfly species, 93 mammals, and 47 amphibians and reptiles. the greatest diversity of vertebrates in the U.S. and the second highest land-mammal diversity in the world. Common creatures you may see include:

• During the summer, dusk brings out the Sonoran Desert Toads from underground burrows to feed on insects and beetles. They are harmless comical characters and come in all sizes hopping across the patios. Because their habitat is protected in the Aravaipa, they can live 20 years and achieve quite some size.
• You may encounter a rock that moves in the Aravaipa Creek, it most likely is a Sonoran Mud Turtle and during the desert rainy season (July-Sept), the Desert Tortoises can be seen lumbering across the landscape in early mornings.
• Lizards, Lizards and more lizards of every variety, color and shape can be found in Aravaipa. Most are harmless and seen everywhere on the property.
• The coyote is without a doubt the most famous desert animal, the very symbol of the west and roams the Aravaipa countryside. He's intelligent and hardy, you may see a coyote on your drive to the Inn.
• If there is prickly pear cactus, and Aravaipa has lots of it, you will find herds of javalina and their young.
• Desert Cottontails, jackrabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks will be seen on every walk or hike you make as they go about their own business feeding on seeds and caring for their young.

Seasonal Farm Activities

Organic Apricots, Peaches, you pick or we pick, last week of May and all of June

• Apricots: $1.50 a pound
• Peaches: $1.00 a pound
• Asian Pears, end of August and all of September: $1.00 a pound
• Pecans and Lemons the month of December: $1.25 a pound
• Fresh farm Eggs any time of year: $3 per dozen.

Aravaipa Farms is a working orchard farm where we make jams and jellies in our kitchen at different times of the year. Vist during the harvest and jam seasons and watch the activities or partake in a jam making class.

We will cater a Cooking Class luncheon for a minimum of (8) eight people on Wednesdays only. $35 per person. Reservations only. Call and book a fun Wednesday with DONNY our wonderful chef.

• Jan - March : Meyer lemons come into season and the canning kitchen is busy making Meyer lemon marmalade and the Inn is serving delicious Meyer lemon pies.
• May : Apricots are being picked from the orchard and kicks off the official jam making season.
• June - August : Visit during peach season and you will see the busiest time at the jam kitchen as thousands of pounds of organic peaches are harvested, stirred in copper pots and made into jam. Peach pies, peach cobblers and peach ice cream frequent the Inn's dessert menus.
• Sept - October: Crisp, sweet Asian pears are in season and harvested to make jams and chutneys. You will find crisp pear slices used in the Inn's fresh salads.

Other areas of interest

Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum - 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona 85743, 520-883-1380. A quick trip West of Tucson is the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum which has introduced more people to the flora, fauna and habitats of this unique region than any other medium of environmental education. http://www.desertmuseum.org

Biosphere 2: An experiment in self sufficiency, the biosphere was the world's largest test tube designed as a prototype space colony. Its mission has now come down to earth and focuses on the planet's ecosystems, tackling problems like global warming and how to feed an exploding population. Biosphere 2 is located 30 miles south of Aravaipa on Highway 77 at mile marker 96.5. The center is open to the public everyday. Guided tours of the Biosphere 2 cover 3/4 mile and depart hourly. Prices are $12.95. Call 1-800-828-2462 or visit http://www.bio2.com