If you’re considering building a brand new home in Wickenburg Ranch you’ve probably read about the wonderful amenities featured in the community in our previous post. From the Big Wick and Li’l Wick golf courses to the socializing and stargazing, we’ve shared a number of our favorite community amenities. What we haven’t done, however, is share everything you need to know about the town of Wickenburg itself. So if Wickenburg is on your list of living destinations, continue reading to learn more about this authentic taste of the Wild West.
High Quality Healthcare
Gone are the days of going to the barber for surgery and dentistry, healthcare is one place where Wickenburg leaves the Wild West behind. The Wickenburg Community Hospital offers a comprehensive healthcare solution for the community. There you’ll find primary care services at the Primary Care Clinic, a Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy Fitness Center, state of the art diagnostics, and a continuously staffed emergency room. The Community Hospital was recently named a “Certified Quality Breast Center,” making it the first hospital in the state to receive that designation.
Arts and Culture
If you’re interested in live performances, Wickenburg boasts a cutting edge theater in the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts. Built in conjunction with the Wickenburg Unified School District, this professional theater is an integral part of the Wickenburg High School campus and is home to live events from October through April. You’ll find live music, performance art, and a variety of educational outreach opportunities. Fans of Western art will appreciate the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, home to one of the finest collections of Western art in the country. The Western Museum also partners with the Boyd Ranch Committee to preserve and improve Boyd Ranch, a unique blend of natural beauty and Western history. This Sonoran Desert Ranch offers visitors outings into the “wild southwest” and is home to a variety of historical artifacts. From Native American artifacts to the tools of 19th century miners and hardy settlers, Boyd Ranch offers a glimpse into the past in the midst of the Hassayampa Wilderness.
Back to Nature
Speaking of the Hassayampa Wilderness, this Preserve, which was a Nature Conservancy preserve prior to a recent partnership with Maricopa County’s Parks and Recreation Department, is truly an oasis in the desert. Flowing almost exclusively underground for most of its 100-mile course, the Hassayampa River emerges here, where it flows above ground throughout the year. Home to some of the desert’s most spectacular wildlife, this wilderness is one of the few remaining riparian habitats in Arizona. Here you’ll find over 300 bird species, native animals, and cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest forest types in North America. The recent partnership with the County has made this preserve part of the larger Vulture Mountains Recreation Area, where you’ll find opportunities for hiking, camping, and picnicking, as well as a variety of planned improvements for wildlife viewing.
It’s still the Wild West (Sort of)
There aren’t many towns out there that hold on to their Western heritage as tight as Wickenburg. When you visit, walk the downtown area where you’ll find large bronze sculptures that tell the town’s story. Wickenburg boasts a variety of Western activities like horseback riding, ropings and rodeos throughout the year, and a number of local dude ranches where you can kick off your boots and unwind in an authentic ranch experience. At the end of the night, gathered around a campfire, you may even hear stories about the ghosts said to be haunting the nearby Vulture City. Once home to a booming mining town, the faithfully restored city is now open for guided and self-guided tours from late October to mid-May. Visitors have claimed to smell food cooking and hear the sound of pots banging in the supposedly haunted Cookhouse, but Vulture City is most known for its infamous Hanging Tree, said to be haunted by the spirits of the criminals that hung there.
If you’re looking for a town that offers luxury modern amenities but didn’t forget where it came from, you’d be hard pressed to find a better place than Wickenburg. For more information about the community or the homes we build, reach out to an Online Home Advisor today.
