Abandoned 
Overview
A ranch town that became a ranch
Redington sits on the east bank of the San Pedro River, about 20 miles south of San Manuel and across the mountains from Tucson. Henry and Lem Redfield, brothers from New York, settled here in 1875. When they asked for a post office in 1879, the Postal Service wouldn't name it after living people, so they called it Redington. The name stuck to the community, the pass and the road.
The 1880s were rough on the family. In 1883 Lem Redfield was lynched in Florence on suspicion of a part in a stagecoach robbery near the ranch. Meanwhile the rancher William H. Bayless was buying land in the valley. Drought in the 1890s drove many settlers away, and Bayless bought them out too, building the 200,000-acre Carlink Ranch. Redington's general store, post office and school ended up inside it.
The post office closed in 1940, but Redington never fully emptied. The Carlink is still a family ranch and farm, run by the sixth generation of the Smallhouse family, and the Forest Service describes Redington as a tiny ranching and farming community. It's private land, seen from the county roads.
Timeline
From the Redfields to the Carlink
- Henry and Lem Redfield, brothers from New York, settle in the San Pedro River valley northeast of Tucson.
- A post office opens with Henry Redfield as postmaster. The Postal Service wouldn't name it for living people, so the brothers chose Redington.
- Lem Redfield is lynched in Florence, suspected of a part in a stagecoach robbery near the brothers' ranch.
- The ranch that becomes the Carlink is established, by its owners' account.
- Rancher William H. Bayless buys up homesteads in the valley. When drought drives settlers out in the 1890s, he buys their land too and builds the 200,000-acre Carlink Ranch, with the townsite inside it.
- The Army abandons its supply road over the mountains to Tucson. Ranchers face a 100-mile detour.
- Eulalia Bourne teaches at the Redington school and starts her student newspaper, the Little Cowpuncher.
- After 41 years of detours and lobbying, by Arizona Highways' count, the road over the pass reopens.
- The post office closes.
- The Carlink is run by the sixth generation of the Smallhouse family. The Forest Service calls Redington a tiny ranching and farming community.
Over the pass
The road over the pass
Redington was tied to Tucson by an Army supply road over the saddle between the Santa Catalina and Rincon mountains. When the Army abandoned it in 1895, valley ranchers had to go about 100 miles around the mountains to reach Tucson. Arizona Highways says it took 41 years of detouring and lobbying before the government opened the road that runs over Redington Pass today.
That road, Redington Road or Forest Road 371, is now a popular backcountry drive. West of the pass it runs past the Bellota Ranch, which Arizona Highways says the Redfield brothers also settled. Their original adobe house still stands on that ranch, now a cattle operation owned by Tanque Verde Ranch.
Eulalia Bourne taught at the Redington school from 1930 to 1933, where she started a student newspaper, the Little Cowpuncher.
She also wrote several books. The best known is Woman in Levis.
What's left
A family ranch on the river
Wikipedia says the townsite, with its general store, post office and school, ended up inside the Carlink Ranch. An undated listing says the old post office, store, school and homes are used by the ranch owners, and we couldn't confirm what survives. Current aerial imagery shows a cluster of ranch buildings along Redfield Canyon Road, with fields and a center-pivot circle south of the road.
The historic maps below show the setting. The 1945 sheet marks Redington and the CarLink Ranch on the east side of the San Pedro, with the Tucson road crossing the river. The 1962 sheet places Redington at the mouth of Redfield Canyon, with ranches strung along the river to the north and south. The 1981 sheet shows a handful of buildings beside the road.
- Carlink Ranch headquarters (private)
- Old post office, store and school, per an undated listing (unconfirmed)
- Fields and pastures
- The Redfields' adobe house on the Bellota Ranch, west of the pass
We don't have freely licensed photos of Redington itself. The gallery shows the Bellota Ranch on Redington Road, the Redfields' other ranch.
Historic maps
Redington on USGS maps, 1945–1981
Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.
Map & directions
Getting there
San Manuel is the closest town, about 50 minutes north along the San Pedro River. From Tucson, our router prefers the paved highway through Oracle and San Manuel. The shorter, slower way is Redington Road over Redington Pass, a graded dirt road.
Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.
- From San Manuel, take Main Street east.0.8 mi
- Turn right onto Redington Road and follow it south down the San Pedro valley.11.5 mi
- Continue south as the road becomes San Pedro River Road.6.5 mi
- Turn sharp right onto Redfield Canyon Road, which runs past the ranch buildings.0.9 mi
- From downtown Tucson, take Granada Avenue and Main Avenue north to Oracle Road.1.4 mi
- Follow Oracle Road north. It becomes AZ 77, the Tucson-Globe Highway, through Oracle.39.9 mi
- Exit and turn right on Veterans Memorial Boulevard through San Manuel. It becomes Redington Road.17.7 mi
- Continue south as the road becomes San Pedro River Road.6.5 mi
- Turn sharp right onto Redfield Canyon Road.0.9 mi
Road and safety notes
- OpenStreetMap marks Redington Road out of San Manuel as paved at first. San Pedro River Road and Redfield Canyon Road around Redington are unpaved.
- Over the pass from Tucson, Redington Road (Forest Road 371) is graded dirt with switchbacks. The Forest Service allows about three hours for the round trip from Tucson. Check conditions after storms.
- Expect off-highway vehicles on the pass road. Arizona Highways notes a large ATV staging area along it.
- Redington is a working ranch. Stay on the county roads and don't enter ranch land.
- Summers are hot here. Carry water, and fill up in San Manuel or Tucson.
Photos
Redington Road in photos
Visitor reports
Been to Redington?
Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.
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Nearby
Other sites near Redington
Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.
- Cascabel11.5 mi SE · Cochise
- American Flag16.9 mi NW · Pinal
- Schultz22.3 mi NW · Pinal
- Copper Creek22.4 mi N · Pinal
- Tres Alamos26.5 mi S · Cochise
- Klondyke29.7 mi N · Graham
- Pantano30.0 mi S · Pima
- Bonita32.5 mi E · Graham
Sources
Sources and credits
- ghosttowns.com, "Redington": fact sheet fields (roads, legal description, climate, best time, remains, post office years, private land).
- Wikipedia, "Redington, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and elevation (GNIS 10181), the Redfields, the post office name, the 1883 lynching, Bayless and the Carlink, Eulalia Bourne.
- Lawrence W. Cheek, "Back Road Adventure," Arizona Highways (archive, undated): the 1875 founding, the Army supply road, the 1895 closure and the 41-year fight for the road.
- Arizona Highways, "Redington Road" (online, undated): the Bellota Ranch and the Redfields' adobe, the graded dirt road and the ATV staging area.
- Carlink Ranch (site © 2024): a sixth-generation family farm and ranch, established in 1884.
- USDA Forest Service, "Redington Road #371 Scenic Drive" (updated April 15, 2026): Redington as a tiny ranching and farming community, the route over the pass, switchbacks, three hours round trip from Tucson.
- Land status: BLM Surface Management Agency map, October 2026 (private land at the townsite). GNIS feature 10181, a populated place in Pima County, via The National Map geonames service.
- Road surfaces: OpenStreetMap, October 2026. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Status checked against the sources above on October 19, 2026.
Photo and map credits
- Corrals at the Bellota Ranch on Redington Road, 2013: Bill Morrow from Tucson, AZ, US, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Cattle on the Bellota Ranch, 2013: Bill Morrow from Tucson, AZ, US, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Redington beside the San Pedro River on the 1945 USGS sheet: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
- Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
- Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Redington 1945, 1:62,500; Redington 1957, 1:62,500; Tucson 1962, 1:250,000; Redington 1981, 1:24,000.