Rancho de la Osa Guest Ranch

I spent the second week of February 2025 at the historic Rancho de la Osa outside of Sasabe, Arizona. My faithful wife as my companion we met up with three of my old Navy buddies and their spouses, hoping for a one of a kind adventure. We found exactly that. Upon arrival, the manager, Angie was immediately welcoming to all of us. We got a full tour of the facilities and were shown our real to history rooms set upon this beautiful piece of American Western History. We were shown the main dining hall where all our meals would be served, the cantina set on the ancient foundation of a mission over 300years old, and everyone's favorite; the corrals and the gorgeous horses that are guaranteed to steal your heart. The horseback rides are led by the capable and friendly wranglers of the ranch. Hondo, Elise and A.J. were amazing and were able to work with every guest on the ranch no matter their skill level. From beginner to advanced the staff here has you covered. The rides whether on horseback or UTV off road vehicles are all set in southernmost Arizona right along the Mexican border. The views of the border wall are stunning but if that is not your thing a UTV ride to a nearby Native reservation with ghost town ruins and ancient petroglyphs on rock walls are sure to set your inner history buff adventurer on fire. Did I mention there are other guests? One of the most fun things about the ranch is getting to meet other guests who have travelled from around the world to be right there with you. The experience of guests becoming new friends via rides, meal times, or just singing around the fire is one of my favorite things about the entire trip. To sum it up, what my wife and I thought would be a once in a life time experience - we are already planning to do again. It is nearly impossible to describe the happiness and inner peace that we found during our visit. There is something…magical about the grounds, the desert, the horses, the cats, the staff, the friendships we discovered there. If you are a fan of the old West or just a soul in need of a spiritual place to find some inner peace, I can’t recommend Rancho de la Osa with enough enthusiasm. Yippie Kai AY!

Truly one of the best vacations we have ever been on. It's hard to express my gratitude and appreciation I have for the staff and what they did for me in achieving a life long dream. Amenities are wonderful, Ranch is rustic but still very comfortable and food was delicious! Thank you so very much and cannot wait till our next adventure together

My stay at the beautiful guest ranch was an unforgettable experience! Highlight was a fast ride in a small group of riders to a place where we could oversee the wide desert countryside. Evenings at the campfire w/ S’mores or in the Cantina were nice to share stories! We even got lucky and could enjoy a great little live concert of cowboy songs from Eric! Also the homemade traditional food was absolutely fantastic! A huge thank you to all who made this such a great trip! I had a wonderful time and the pleasure to get to know great people.

Another GREAT TRUE ranch! Rancho de la Osa is another great and unique TRUE ranch! This historical ranch offers a personalized guest experience. Walk and ride in the footsteps of Presidents, Hollywood actors and famous writers and musicians and thousands of every day people who love horses, riding and experiencing life on an authentic ranch! The horseback riding trails at the ranch take you close to the US/Mexico border. You also get to ride into the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. The border land trails are wonderfully varied and seemingly endless. This was our first opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving week on a True ranch. We enjoyed amazing sunny and warm weather [instead of rain, snow, cold, wind, etc]. We also loved all of the meals prepared by Clayton – especially the Thanksgiving Day feast dinner! Every guest at the ranch was amazed at all of the choices provided for dinner and the many pies for dessert! All of our trail rides, on the ranch’s well trained and responsive horses, allowed us to enjoy the great variety of terrain, vegetation and wildlife of the region. Being able to explore the desert border lands of the Rancho De La Osa from the saddle of a great horse is an exceptional way to understand the historical attraction of this amazing ranch! The wranglers [Eric, Hondo and Elyse] were enthusiastic, very personable, great with the horses and enthusiastic in providing us with new trails to ride and explore every day! The ranch has a large arena and we were very fortunate to be able to participate in riding lessons as we continue to improve our riding and horsemanship skills. The ranch ensures the safety of guests who are experiencing their first rides and also ensures that experienced riders have the opportunity to experience longer and more challenging trails and terrain throughout this great ranch. Getting up early to catch spectacular desert sunrises also gives guests a wonderful opportunity to observe the horses and their herd behavior every morning. At the end of the day it is possible to observe the young cows on the ranch and even a small group of wild cattle that finds its way to the ranch for a welcome drink of water [and sometimes the chance to snack on some hay! ]. Angela manages the ranch with great skill as she positively responds to the many varied requests of all guests. She and her entire staff ensure that all accommodations are clean, well-supplied and more than comfortable. We enjoyed staying in the Elanor Roosevelt “first lady room” and were impressed with the spacious amenities in each room of this great suite! Her team does everything possible to ensure that guests have great riding and other special guest adventures! The Cantina is a great gathering place for guests and evening bonfires were a great way to end a full day of riding and other activities. A hidden gem is a local cantina in Sasabe that is only open of Saturday afternoons. This is a great opportunity to meet

Very relaxing quiet weekend with adventure! Really enjoyed the breakfast horseback ride. Also enjoyed the off-road trip to see Petroglyphs and ruins. A special Thank you to the chef for accommodating our dietary restrictions. A very special place with lots of history and character. Great staff!

This was an amazing experience. We stayed for three nights and it was the highlight of my vacation. The drive to the ranch is quiet and scenic. Once at the ranch, the check in process with the manager Angela was great. She gave us a tour and explained everything we needed to know. The room was quiet, clean and generously sized, and the bathroom amenities were good as well. The ranch is small and safe…please note that the rooms don’t have a key to lock (except for the inside while you’re in it) but the staff basically live there and they are so much like a family that it’s very safe. I don’t know if we even locked it once while sleeping! Don’t let that stop you from visiting! The food was incredible. Freshly made, great variety and such care to respect dietary wishes. I think I gained weight despite the exercise because it was so good. The alcohol is not included but it’s reasonably priced and available at the cantina. Lots of selection too! The riding and other activities were so great. We only did the slow rides (fast is available twice a week for riders able to show they can manage their horses), but the slow rides were more than enough! The terrain is varied and offers great views and lots of ups and downs to keep it exciting. The wranglers we worked with (Eric, Lucita and Elise) were fantastic…very knowledgeable and capable. As well they were fun to talk to and had great stories of local events, history and nature. The horses are beautiful and well cared for. This is a restful place where you can disconnect from daily stress and get back to a peaceful existence.