Exporing Oracle State Park, 1/08/2020

Located in the northern foothills of the Catalina Mountains is Oracle State Park (about 50 miles from Tucson). Once a 4,000 acres ranch, the Kannally family willed the property to the Defenders of Wildlife with the stipulation that it be used as a wildlife refuge. The property was later deeded to the Arizona State Parks Board. 

 

In 1903, brothers Neil and Lee Kannally purchased a 160-acre ranch. Three more family members (2 sisters and a brother) joined them and the ranch grew to 50,000 acres. The Kannally Ranch House is a Mediterranean Revival style building that was completed in 1932. Today it is used for environmental educational programs for the public and has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Holiday decorations could be seen in some of the rooms inside. 

The ranch house featured a large kitchen and pantry. A live-in cook had rooms on the lower level. 

There are no bedrooms in the house as the Kannally siblings had their own separate cottages where they slept. The ranch house was used by all and was where they gathered for daily for meals and leisure time.

 

Beautiful wood ceilings were featured in the main living area. Also, Oracle State Park is an International Dark Sky park. A telescope is available for visitors during educational programs

There are 15 miles of hiking trails here (also mountain biking and equestrian ones). Dogs are not permitted on some trails, so we decided to check out the Nature Loop Trail (NT on map below).

We began the nature trail hike with our doggie, Sadie. Interpretive signs provide information about the flora and fauna found here. 

The trail winds through oak-grasslands where grey fox, whitetail deer, Harris hawk, western diamondback rattlesnakes, gila monsters, and more. Alas, we did not see ANY of these during our hike although we did spend some time at the wildlife viewing area enjoying the solitude and natural beauty. 

Yucca plants dominated the landscape along portions of the trail.

The bedrock in the park and surrounding foothills is known as Oracle Granite and is one of the oldest exposed bedrock in the southwest. Piles of granite boulders are prominent features here. Wanting to see more of them, we hiked the Granite Overlook Trail Loop (GO on the map above).

And, yes, there were granite boulders everywhere!

This is an entire field of more boulders.

Sadie had a blast on this trail as we did not encounter any other people on the day we visited. 

We enjoyed learning the history of the area and exploring the countryside. The trails are well marked, but not all are dog friendly. For additional information about Oracle State Park, go to www.azstateparks.com/oracle/.