June 16, 2023
Sabino Canyon Open Space, a scenic area for a hike, is found just south of the town of Tijeras in the Manzano Mountains. with less than 120 acres of gently sloping meadows, surrounded by piñon pine and juniper trees, the area has been inhabited since 5500 B.C.
Needless to say, Sabino Canyon has “history,” some of which is on display by walking a short distance uphill from the parking area.
Between the 1600s and 1800s, the meadows of today were actively farmed for pinto beans and potatoes to support the small village of Sabino, of which little is known. However, the area became map worthy when in the 1920s, the Riedling family of musical fame, owned and operated the Riedmont Silver Fox Farm located within the west half of today’s Sabino Canyon Open Space property. Fur coats and capes were all the rage in the 1920s, and the farm raised between 300-500 silver fox, along with minx and rabbit to help supply the demand. When the fur market crashed in the late 1930s, the fox farm was abandoned. What remains are the fox, minx and rabbit enclosures, a water tower, and several outbuildings, all of which seem to be melting back into the landscape.
Visiting this historic area, it was hard to think about such beautiful animals living their lives out in small cages, only to be killed for their fur.
As we walked around the rapidly deteriorating farm buildings (it doesn’t appear any effort is being made to restore the structures), I unwittingly plowed through large patches of gnarly dried out cheatgrass hiding thickets of heavily seeded forget-me-nots. Ouch! When looking down at my socks, boots and boot laces, I wasn’t surprised to find hundreds of seeds had seemingly “jumped” and clamped snugly aboard! So for the next 30 minutes, I plucked and pulled enough of those pesky hitchhikers to allow me to hike on out of there!
A memorable hike back into history….. one I won’t soon “Forget!”
a curious nature 
Excellent! One of my favorite things to do in Tucson.
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Thanks!
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👍🏻
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Fascinating glimpse into history, Barb! I, too, feel empathy for the animals in cages destroyed simply for their fur. I bet it was interesting wandering amongst the ruins of the abandoned farm. I enjoy seeing those areas, too, and imagining all that went on there, “if these rocks could talk”, etc. I see that this is a Sabino Canyon near you — I have hiked the Sabino Canyon in Tucson which is lovely, too! Thanks for sharing this bit of local history!
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Thanks very much, Karen! Always love your comments. It was an interesting area, and when I googled Sabino Canyon, there was even more history surrounding this site (maybe for another, cooler day!). Oh and in my search, I also uncovered several Sabino Canyons …. The one you enjoyed in Tucson (and we visited that one last December too) there’s another in California. Small world! Thanks for reading about our lesser (in)famous Sabino!
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