A left turn off Avra Valley Road turns us south onto Agua Dulce Road and into Ironwood Forest National Monument.

The day before we were high in the crowded Santa Catalina Mountains where the many helpful signs and symbols tell you where to go and what to do - here we don't see anyone all day and there are no informational overlooks, arrows pointing us off the road or signed trails - stripped of official interpretation and fully managed recreation no one will help you decide when to stop, where to wander, what has meaning.

Farther south along the road we pass Lord's Ranch. Now owned by Pima County the land was acquired by Lynn H. Lord in September 1944 via the Homestead Act. The ranch - including leased land - was over 15,000 acres at its height, first with Angora Goats and later with cattle. The Friends of Ironwood Forest Newsletter - Spring 2013 - has an article on the ranch including amazing photos and information from Sally Lord who lived and worked on the ranch.

Pima County purchased the land as part of the The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. The purchase was funded in part by a Recovery Land Acquisition Grant to help protect and conserve endangered species.

Our turn around point for the day is a hillside on Arizona State Trust Land currently leased by the Willock Ranch with the Santa Catalina and Tucson mountains in the distance, Dos Titos in the Roskruge Mountains to the South.