Carr House ruins

The hike I had planned to Sheep's head dome in the Dragoons didn't happen. Instead I went into town, talked with some shelter volunteers at PetSmart, and took a short walk around the Carr House ruins on my way home. These ruins are in the lower Carr Canyon, before drivers ascend up to the higher-elevation campgrounds five miles away. Many locals come here as the ruins are within short walking distance to a popular picnic area. These ruins were built by Todd-Healy who bought the land from James Carr who lived here in 1880-1884 before selling off all his land in this canyon. Somewhere down the road this was a dude ranch, but all that remains today is the living quarters that is now a visitor's center, and the remaining ruins.

There was little burn damage here. No ruins were blackened and the house itself withstood it all. The only thing I noticed was how tall the Lehman's lovegrass is. It's taller than Sadie! The creekbed itself, which is quite dry right now, also showed much flood damage from last summer's monsoon, but the damage was retained to within the creek flow area.

We didn't stay here for long. It was already close to 4pm when we drove off. I had come here to give Sadie some exercise and to shoot some photographs. I ended up taking a lot of bottles and beer cans with me back to the car. Many more remained broken in the tall grass.

"This place is a popular party place" told me one young woman at the ruins. She was there with her four-month-old German shepherd and a friend. I recognized her from my trip to PetSmart earlier. She was correct, as there was not only discarded beer bottles and cans, but deer attracktant left behind by hunters. The ruins in part were also painted with graffitti, which is a terrible shame.

Another older woman was also walking her dog. This place is a popular destination for families wanting a short walk through nature. Bird houses are also set along the perimeter although I didn't go near them today. The trail was no more than a mile altogether and I was there an hour. The picnic area across from Carr Road also had visitors with kids and dogs.