With 10,000 acres located 20 miles east of Clifton , Ariz. , in Mogollon Rim Country , Cold Creek Ranchis a working cattle ranch that narrow down in 100 - percentgrassfed beef . Its owner , the Schwennesen family , has had roots in this part of the country since 1921 , when Otto M. Schwennesen returned from World War I with lungs damage from German flatulence attacks and was commit to the Veterans ’ Hospital at Fort Whipple ( now Prescott ) for treatment . Although the Schwennesen home property has been a ranch for many years , it opened its doors to guests in 2011 .
The ranch is part state Din Land , part National Forest and part in private owned . Originally established in the 1870s as part of the heavy Davis Ranch , Cold Creek is named for the stream that carries two other creeks from their confluence to the Gila River .
Originally , ranch in the area was all-encompassing , with few neighbors or competitors . Today , ranching is intensive and limited , with many ordinance constraints , explains Eric Schwennesen , the current spread owner . “ [ Water is in short supplying , and ] everything else waits on that . If it does n’t pelting , nothing happens , ” he order
Holding Onto Tradition
Clifton been the heart of the Bos taurus and minelaying neighborhood since the eighties . Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor grew up on the nearby Lazy B Ranch , and the region is also enunciate to be the birthplace of Apache Chief Geronimo . But this means of life — and the communities free-base on it — is dying out fast .
“ Mining and ranching are about all we have in Clifton , ” Schwennesen read . “ Clifton and the other scatter towns in the area were built to supply the growing , dynamic needs of livestock and mining industries over a wide realm . … Our townsfolk count on [ Cold Creek ’s ] succeeder as much as we do . ”
As far as he ’s touch on , this want a good education but also a lot of hard work . Schwennesen and his wife , Jean , are no armchair ranchers , even though between them they hold two bachelors and three overlord ’s level . “ We learn from other people in the business , from the very scattered system of pastoralists around the world , ” Schwennesen says .
Cold Creek Ranch
Off-The-Grid Living
Too far to have fair access to electrical channel , Cold Creek Ranch is off - power grid and generates its own power with solar panels and use battery to store vim . In the wintertime , the house is heated with firewood , but in the summertime , “ you be with it , ” Schwennesen says , referring to the infamous Southwestern heat . He has no regrets , though . “ It ’s a good animation , close to the land , ” he enjoin .
Cultivating Local Business
One reason Schwennesen bear on on the ranching tradition was to correct the negative public perception of ranchers . “ Too few multitude understand farming agriculture or the trouble of it , ” he says . “ [ rent guest stay here ] is a direction to countenance them feel what it is like . ”
The sincerity of his sexual love of the land and passion for ranching rings gaudy and well-defined . Guests may participate in daily ranch employment , which include riding , feed and shoe gymnastic horse ; calling and propel cattle ; roping and stigmatization ; or clarification brush . They also get to try Jean ’s bristly pear syrup , a well - known treat in the ranch humanity , in which she uses agave syrup instead of sugar .
In addition to let the populace to stay on the farm , Cold Creek Ranch directly markets meat topically . “ There is absolutely no reason to ship midway across the country , ” Schwennesen says . “ There are local producers who necessitate the business and support in every state , including Alaska . We are not solid food extremist , however , just plebeian sense kinsfolk . ”
Cold Creek Ranch
When You Visit
What brings node to Cold Creek is its scene , standoffishness and legitimacy , Schwennesen says , emphasizing that it ’s not a movie stage set . “ The actual deal is what we offer , existent work , a part in the management process . ” However , the ranch ’s “ Weather Guarantee ” states that any 24-hour interval with 0.35 inches of rain will be free for guests .
Easy day trips from the ranch include hot outpouring , Apache sights and world - notable Tombstone , Ariz. , one of the last frontier boomtowns in the American Old West .
