When the restaurant at the Santa Rita Lodge burned down on June 3, 1983, many Tucsonans felt the loss. Its menu may not have been the most elaborate in town, but the old restaurant was always a wonderful place to take visitors. It was a place to witness up close one of the great marvels of our area.
The hummingbirds! Guests sitting at the window tables were always treated to the tiny winged creatures feeding on numerous bright red feeders. The birds would seem close enough to touch and were fascinating to watch.
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1996 file photo
Hummingbirds dining at the Santa Rita Lodge 1996.
And it wasn’t the first time a fire damaged the lodge in the canyon. Here is a bit of history from a Bonnie Henry column from 1992:
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“Around the turn of the century, a Tucsonan by the name of H.E. Heighton stumbled into the canyon during a deer hunt. Taken with its beauty – and its easy ride from Tucson – he and a handful of friends secured U.S. Forest Service permits to build in the canyon.
Six cabins and several tent houses quickly sprang up in the Big Rock area.
Next came the Santa Rita Trail Resort, which offered pack trips on horseback to the top of what was then called Baldy Overlook. Hardy souls who took the resort up on the offer got a ride to the top and back, a free roll of film developed and delivered to their hometown addresses, and a chicken dinner at the lodge upon their return. Total cost: $5.
Unfortunately, the resort burned down. In 1929, C.R. Dusenberry rebuilt it all into a year-round facility. Cottages, cabins, a general store and a bigger dining room all emerged.”
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1983 file photo
The Santa Rita Lodge Restaurant after the 1983 arson fire.
In 1960, a California couple purchased the lodge. The property consisted of the guest accommodations, a restaurant and grocery. It served the 67 cabins in the area and also, all the visiting hikers, hunters and picnickers. The selling price was $50,000.
In 1972, the Star’s Abe Chanin wrote of his pleasant memories from childhood of the Madera Canyon area. It was a retreat that his family headed to in the summers to find relief for his father, who suffered from asthma. He wrote of the lone country store operated by the Dusenberry family. “Even to this day I savor the pungent steam coming out of Mrs. Dusenberry’s huge pies.”
“At the lodge,” he wrote “they had horses and burros for riding and cottages and apartments for summer rentals. And Madera Canyon was an ideal summer vacation resort for Tucsonans.” The deer were plentiful with abundant other wildlife.
The restaurant is gone, but the Santa Rita Lodge indeed remains in business today. The hummingbirds are still there and new memories are being created everyday.
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