Bands of red, rust, and pale cream roll across the painted desert formation just east of this 43.68-acre ranch. What makes this property different is how easy it is to reach. POA-maintained dirt roads run right to the property, a standard 2WD car handles the drive, and Highway 191 is about 5 miles away. When you need groceries, fuel, or feed, St. Johns (the Apache County seat) is 25 minutes down the road.

• 43.68 acres in Bonito Valley Ranch, Unit 1, Lot 87
• Painted desert formation and views just to the east
• POA-maintained roads to the property; 2WD vehicles are sufficient
• About 5 miles to Highway 191, 25 minutes to St. Johns
• Residential, recreational, and hobby ranch use allowed

The Land

The property sits at 5,818 feet on the Colorado Plateau. The terrain is open desert with red clay loam soil and a gentle slope toward the west. A slight rise in the southeast corner is a natural place for a home site or camp, with the painted desert in view. Three seasonal streambeds cross the property from west to east and carry water during the monsoon and snowmelt seasons. Elk, mule deer, and coyotes are commonly seen in the area. With 43 acres and no trees in the way, you have wide views in every direction and plenty of space between you and the nearest neighbor.

Access & Utilities

Legal and physical access comes via N6628, a dirt road maintained by the Bonito Valley Ranch POA. In normal conditions, a regular car or 2WD truck is all you need. Contact us and we'll walk you through the best route, and we're happy to talk about building site placement on the higher ground in the southeast corner.

This is an off-grid property. For water, you can drill a well (typical depths in the area run around 170 feet) or haul water and store it in a cistern. With about 275 days of sunshine a year, solar panels are a practical power source.

How You Can Use It

The A-General county zoning gives you real options. You can build one single-family home, modular home, or manufactured home.Because the parcel is over 5 acres, a guest house is allowed too. Apache County also welcomes tiny homes and alternative builds such as rammed earth, cordwood, cob, and earthships, as long as engineered plans are submitted for review. Incidental RV camping is allowed, so you can bring your camper out for weekends while you plan. Full-time RV living is permitted once the RV is connected to an approved septic system, which requires a perc test and a septic permit.

The POA allows residential, recreational, and hobby ranch use, so there's room for horses, goats, or chickens for your own use. The covenants also prohibit hunting and firearm discharge on the property, which helps keep the neighborhood quiet. Hunting is permitted on nearby public land. Any residence needs a water-flush toilet or other government-approved disposal system. See the “Files” section for a full list of covenants.

Climate

The high-desert climate brings four mild seasons. Summer highs average 87°F, and nights cool into the mid-60s. Winters are sunny, with highs around 46°F, lows averaging 19°F, and about 20 inches of snow a year. Most of the area's roughly 13 inches of annual precipitation arrives with the July–September monsoon and during the winter months.

What's Nearby

St. Johns is 25 minutes (20.1 miles) away and has a Circle K, groceries, and county services. For bigger shopping trips, Show Low is 1 hour 18 minutes away, and Flagstaff is about 2 hours 50 minutes. Lyman Lake State Park is 43 minutes from the property and offers fishing for walleye, catfish, and bass, plus boating with no boat-size limits. Petrified Forest National Park is 1 hour 7 minutes away, and the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is about 2 hours. Closer to home, Arizona State Trust Land sits one parcel to the east and nearby to the north and south, and BLM land is nearby to the west. State Trust Land requires a recreational permit.

Pricing

Cash price: $30,400

Owner financing is available with $5,000 down, then $479/month for 72 months ($39,488 total).

At Ashbrook Land Company we perform extensive research into all of our properties before listing them, but it is ultimately the buyer's responsibility to perform their due diligence before purchase. The information provided on this page is, to the best of our knowledge, correct, and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All prospective buyers are encouraged to contact the county to confirm legality or feasibility of any future development plans. Rural, undeveloped land can be dangerous due to terrain, weather, and poor or non-existent road access and calls for caution when visiting. Ashbrook Land Company will not be held responsible for any action or outcomes by visitors to a property of ours. We make no warranties or representations about the land, its condition, or what can be built on the property. Property lines in photos and the LandID interactive map are approximate and for visual purposes only. GIS/aerial maps vary slightly from actual property boundaries.