Picacho Peak State Park, AZ

Cruising east on I-10 about 80 miles east of Gila Bend and about 40 miles west of Tucson I happened across Picacho Peak State Park.

It wasn’t that I actually stumbled on to it. It’s pretty hard to miss as the peak shoots 1500 feet straight up in the middle of the desert.

It was quite an impressive site as I approached and needing gas I took exit 219, Picacho Peak Rd. and took a look around.

I rode up to the park entrance but found out that it was closed from May 16th until September 15th. I coasted down about 50 yards to the Shell Station / Dairy Queen / Gift Shop. I filled up at the pump then walked into the DQ / Gift Shop portion. My plan was to buy patches for my vest as I traveled. As it turns out patches were harder to find than I thought. But I did get a big surprise and a great laugh when I entered the DQ.

Picacho Peak Dairy Queen & Gift Shop

At the far end of the Dairy Queen leading into the gift shop was a huge display of fireworks and not the wimpy kind you get in California but the cool, illegal, exploding kind. I walked around the corner and there was an entire section about half the size of your average 7-11 all fireworks! It was the coolest, funniest damn thing I’ve ever seen.

I snapped a picture and posted it to my Facebook page. The store didn’t have any patches so I headed across the highway to the souvenir shop.

I can’t for the life of me remember the name of that souvenir shop and having surfed the web for over an hour I’ve given up looking for it. I do remember they had a giant ceramic buffalo right in front of the place, just to add a touch of the Old West to the experience.

They also had patches, super air conditioning and just about every other type of Arizona paraphernalia you could ever want. And of course their own fireworks section as well. I bought a couple patches and snapped a few pictures. 

Having screwed around here at Picacho Peak for about 45 minutes. I decided I needed to get back on the I-10 and high-tail it into Sierra Vista. I had about another 125 miles to go and it was past 4PM so I hopped on my bike and headed into Tucson.

Picacho Peak History

Later on I found out that Picacho Peak was the site of the westernmost battle of the Civil War and the largest Civil War clash to take place in Arizona: The Battle of Picacho Pass.

The battle took place on April 15, 1862, when Confederate and Union scouting parties came across each other. There is a reenactment of the battle there every Spring.

Just about a mile east of Picacho Peak State Park I saw a big sign on the right that said: Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch and sure as hell, there were tons of Ostriches wandering about but again, I felt like I was running late so I just rolled past. That’s one mistake I try to avoid – not stopping. Whenever I don’t stop I almost alway regret it later. Here’s a link to the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch which apparently has been voted one of America’s best road side attractions…

Picacho Peak Flickr Set: