Tatum Ranch

The small town of Cave Creek, Arizona is just six miles to the north. The Ranch is within the City of Phoenix and the Cave Creek Unified School District. The mailing addresses are in Cave Creek Postal system however. The Ranch is five miles north of the 101 Freeway, and 35 miles north of Phoenix’ Sky Harbor airport. The Carefree Highway, the quickest approach to Interstate 17, is 3 miles north.

The Ranch was created and developed by SunCor Development Company beginning in 1988. Homes in 30 neighborhoods were built by a wide range of well known builders. Three neighborhoods are gated. All the lots in Tatum Ranch were built out as of December 2001.

The community benefits from the 410-foot wide Cave Creek Road scenic highway corridor that keeps the roadsides in natural desert plants and shrubs. The arterial streets within the Ranch have desert landscaping in their median strips. Land immediately to the north, east, and south of the Ranch is occupied with residential lots one acre or more. Land to the west of the Ranch is State Trust Land, with a portion dedicated as Sonoran Preserve.

SunCor created the Tatum Ranch Community Association to own, maintain, and insure the common areas, preserve the community’s appearance and theme, and establish a sense of community. All Tatum Ranch homeowners are members of the Association.

Inside the Ranch is the new Desert Willows Elementary School (older Ranch students are bussed to Cave Creek schools) and three commercial areas (Safeway, Walgreen’s, Ace Hardware, a medical and dental clinic, restaurants, and retail stores). A new Phoenix Fire Station is one mile south of the Ranch. The nearest hospital is the Mayo Clinic Hospital, 6-7 miles south.