374261 5 Location 462812 <p>Last time we stayed in Portal, we had a hard time finding a place to stay -- in part because there aren't many choices and in part, because the spring sees a rush of birders to the area. We stayed at the Portal Peak Lodge and were a little underwhelmed.</p><p>This time, we stayed at a guest ranch called <a href="/go?l=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mountainshadowsgetaway.com%2F&tracking=external" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: bold">Mountain Shadows Getaway</span></a>. It was great! </p><p>This beautiful ranch is located at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains and near the Coronado National Forest. The hosts, Chris and Bill, have their own home there and have set up a second house on the property as a guest house. </p><p>The guest quarters are spacious with two bedrooms, a large living room, a full kitchen, and a very nice porch from which you can see a vast range of birds in the surrounding gardens. There is also a small pond on the property with fish, frogs, and turtles. </p><p>We had everything we needed at this lovely house and really enjoyed the hospitality of the hosts. (We had a lot of questions about the area, and they happily obliged us.) The house is also filled with many resources, such as park guides, birding books, and much more. There is even great wireless access, a rarity in Portal.<br /></p><p>I would highly recommend this guest ranch to anyone looking for a place to stay in the Portal area.</p> 2008-08-15T07:58:53-07:00 817299635 2008-08-06T17:00:00-07:00 0 16 164072 7528289 374261 0 237936 0.0 2008-08-06T17:00:00-07:00 Published 0.0 2008-08-15T09:09:23-07:00 97932 0