Nine Nights Exploring Southern Arizona’s History and Backroads

I asked my youngest daughter, Lilah, to sum up our trip in one sentence, and she quickly answered, “a comforting trip that opened up adventure.” I couldn’t have described it any better! Lilah and I completed a 1,500-mile trip through Southern Arizona and into western New Mexico, traveling across five Arizona counties and camping for nine nights along the way.

 “a comforting trip that opened up adventure.”

The route was designed to explore mining history, Spanish colonial-era sites, and remote backroads across the region, while also testing the ability to travel and camp comfortably in isolated areas in our PinDrop Travel Trailer. My daughter Lilah is a 4th grader, so we took advantage of the National Park Service’s free pass and visited many Parks and Monuments along our trip.

Nine Nights, Many Experiences

Founder Tim and daughter Lilah enjoy a roadside BLT on a byway in the middle of nowhere

We began at Picacho Peak State Park, the site of our nation’s westernmost Civil War battle. Most don’t associate Arizona with the American Civil War. However, due to its vast mineral wealth, Arizona was sought by the Confederate and Union armies alike, and for a while in our state’s history, it wasn’t clear who would rule the claims. After exploring the trails at Picacho Peak, we traveled south through the Ironwood National Monument area and into the Silver Bell mining district, where we stayed the night in a grove of saguaros in the shadow of the Ragged Top mountain range.

The next morning we meandered our way out of Silver Bell through rough dirt roads, visited a pioneer cemetery and eventually found pavement just outside of Saguaro National Park. We perused the visitor’s center and took the scenic loop out of the park to make our way south to Tubac. 

We camped outside Tubac, in the foothills of Tumacacori Peak and enjoyed a wonderful dinner overlooking the twinkling lights of the Santa Cruz River Valley, where the first Spanish explorers made their way up north into what is now Arizona. The following morning we attended a guided hike organized by Borderlandia along the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, led by executive director Alex LaPierre. The experience provided historical context on early Spanish exploration routes through the region. We also visited Tubac Presidio State Park, one of Arizona’s oldest European settlements, and San Xavier del Bac, the White Dove of the Desert, a mission still in use today, which was founded by the Jesuit Father Kino in 1692.

Borderlandia Executive Director Alex LaPierre and Founder Tim pause for a selfie

From Tubac, we continued south through Arivaca to Ruby, a remote and well-preserved historic mining camp located deep in rugged terrain. We spent a night camped outside Ruby and hiked the surrounding area the following morning, exploring the area’s remoteness, soaking in the solitude, and trying to imagine how anyone would have had the gumption to swing a pick ax in such rough, isolated country.

From there, we traveled through Nogales and Patagonia, where we stopped for a while to walk the main street and grab a cup of coffee and a treat at the local cafe Gathering Grounds. After stretching our legs, we hit dirt outside of town and headed towards the historic and remote mining town of Duquesne and into the area near Lochiel, camping close to the Arizona–Mexico border. This portion of the trip followed sections of the Santa Cruz Valley, historically significant as a travel and trade corridor. This valley is one of the most beautiful in Arizona, and a lot of the ranch land dates back to Spanish land grants issued long before our nation was a nation.

We then climbed into the Huachuca Mountains, stopping at Montezuma Pass for a meal before descending into Coronado National Monument, where we read up on Coronado’s expedition through this area. Our route continued through Bisbee and into the southern Chiricahua Mountains where we stayed the night at a lovely national forest campground on the banks of Cottonwood Creek.

Before crossing into New Mexico, we visited the Surrender Monument of Geronimo, near Skeleton Canyon, where this historic leader made the decision to surrender to the US Army in 1886, ending the Apache Wars, often cited as the longest conflict in US Military history.

We stuck to the county roads in New Mexico, where we followed the Geronimo Trail through several historic mining towns, including Hillsboro. From there, we returned back to Arizona, and traveled north on Highway 191—the Coronado Trail—stopping in Clifton to visit a local museum and walk Chase Creek before continuing into the White Mountains.

We spent our last night camping at KP Cienega in the White Mountains, where temperatures were still low enough for snow on the ground. The final leg of the trip brought us back through the White Mountains and down the General Crook Highway to the Verde Valley and home base. 

Sixty miles of dirt in any direction leads to this remote campsite near Ruby, Arizona

PinDrop® Galley Kitchen Creates Exceptional Cuisine Options

Over the course of the trip, we cooked every meal from the PinDrop, and I’m not talking about opening cans or microwaving packaged dinners. I’m talking about fresh ingredients and elaborate meals such as fish tacos with spicy jalapeño slaw, Dutch oven cornbread, BLTs, slow cooked pasta sauce spooned over penne, breakfast eggs with chorizo served over warmed corn tortillas. We never lacked power, we enjoyed hot showers, we slept like logs.

Still Charged Up

After nine nights on the road, we returned with our battery at an eimpressive 94% state-of-charge.

Trip Highlights

Key highlights included meeting Borderlandia executive director Alex LaPierre, traveling 60 miles of rough dirt road to camp near Ruby, Arizona, and traveling through lower Santa Cruz County, far from services and in pristine country untouched by the modern world.

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The PinDrop® Way

Exploring Tumacacori National Park, founded in 1691 by Eusebio Kino, Father of Arizona

Throughout the trip, we spent time learning about the layered history of Arizona and the surrounding region, from Indigenous settlements and early Spanish exploration routes, to frontier mining operations and later migration corridors. As Lilah put it, “A comforting trip that opened up adventure.” That’s the balance: being able to travel into remote areas while maintaining basic comfort and self-sufficiency. It’s the PinDrop Way.