Scenic locations near Tuscon, AZ?

[GregFarz78]

Going to be visiting some family for a few days in Tuscon, interested in doing some hiking/shooting got any recommendations for me?

[gooble]

I know some in Phoenix. :)

As for Tucson, I've wanted to go to the Sonoran Desert Museum there. While I haven't been there I've heard good things about it. They've got an area full of hummingbirds that are used to people and a raptor flight demonstration among other things. Here's their site if your're interested: http://www.desertmuseum.org/

[hawkeye60]

Sabino Canyon.

[FlyingPhotog]

Oh there's one or two things to do:
Sabino Canyon (Tram Ride Up .. Walk Down)
East or West Saguaro National Monument
Drive up Mount Lemmon (gonna be really chilly this time of year...)
Desert Museum (as mentioned)
San Xavier del Bac Mission (South Tucson)
Tubac (art community south of Tucson)
Santa Catalina Mountains (several trails start from various locations in the foothills)

http://www.visittucson.org/

[12mnkys]

I would second Mt. Lemmon... You can also go up Redington Pass and check out the Organ Pipe National Park.

[Dermit]

One thing everyone should do when in the area is visit the Titan Missile Museum a little South of Tucson...

http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/

...and if you are interested in aircraft there is also the Pima Air Museum in the South East part of Tucson. They have 40 acres of retired, mostly military aircraft.

[20droger]

If you're willing to drive a little, there's Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, about an hour southeast of Tucson. This is an absolutely fantastic spot for birding and other wildlife.

Also southeast of Tucson, but a little farther away, the Chiracahua National Monument southeast of Willcox is unbelievable, with tons of wildlife and rock formations not found anywhere else.

A short distance southwest of Tucson is the Kitt Peak observatory. Definitely worth a trip if you are of a scientific mind, or if you just enjoy fantastic scenery.

From a tourist point of view, there's Old Tucson, famous in many western movies, and the Tucson Botanical Gardens. And, of course, (in order of distance from downtown Tucson), Collossal Cave, Kartchner Caverns, and Tombstone--"The Town Too Tough to Die"--it just morphed into a giant tourist trap!

And, if you're out and about Interstaye 10 going towards Willcox (and the Chiracahua Monument), there's always The THING!

[FlyingPhotog]

If you're willing to drive a little, there's Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, about an hour southeast of Tucson. This is an absolutely fantastic spot for birding and other wildlife.

Also southeast of Tucson, but a little farther away, the Chiracahua National Monument southeast of Willcox is unbelievable, with tons of wildlife and rock formations not found anywhere else.

A short distance southwest of Tucson is the Kitt Peak observatory. Definitely worth a trip if you are of a scientific mind, or if you just enjoy fantastic scenery.

From a tourist point of view, there's Old Tucson, famous in many western movies, and the Tucson Botanical Gardens. And, of course, (in order of distance from downtown Tucson), Collossal Cave, Kartchner Caverns, and Tombstone--"The Town Too Tough to Die"--it just morphed into a giant tourist trap!

And, if you're out and about Interstaye 10 going towards Willcox (and the Chiracahua Monument), there's always The THING!

...and if you're going to the SE corner of AZ, spend a little time in Bisbee. Incredible charm and amazingly engineered architecture...

(BTW, Karchner Caverns has photography restrictions and a reservation is suggested .. IIRC, Kitt Peak also has some photography rules as well...)

[20droger]

...and if you're going to the SE corner of AZ, spend a little time in Bisbee. Incredible charm and amazingly engineered architecture...

(BTW, Karchner Caverns has photography restrictions and a reservation is suggested .. IIRC, Kitt Peak also has some photography rules as well...)
Bisbee indeed! Plus several legitimate ghost towns.

And Karchner and Kitt Peak only have restrictions inside. Plenty to see outside, too.

[SkipD]

After reading the first post, I was going to mention the Titan Missle Museum. I'm glad it was mentioned already. It's well worth a visit.

[GregFarz78]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone

We went to the desert museum last time, if you haven't been there yet GO NOW it was awesome. Also saw the san xavier mission and tubac both of those were cool too, its so nice in that area of the country I loved it out there.

Titan Missile is on the agenda already and one of those canyons or mountain trials sounds like a good idea :) I rented a canon 200mm prime for this occasion

[Riff Raff]

I've only visited Tucson once, but the Desert Museum was very nice. I also visited the Pima Air Museum. I don't remember it being available when I was there, but it looks like they've also added a bus tour of the aircraft "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan AFB.

[FlyingPhotog]

I've only visited Tucson once, but the Desert Museum was very nice. I also visited the Pima Air Museum. I don't remember it being available when I was there, but it looks like they've also added a bus tour of the aircraft "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan AFB.

The bus tour of AMARC used to be administrated by Davis-Monthan AFB themselves but they passed the responsiblity to the Pima Air & Space Museum roughly 5 or 6 years ago...

Pima has really, really grown of late. 90% of it is, of course, still outside but they've added four buildings in the last few years and have moved their more prized aircraft indoors.

Their latest restoration project is a B36 Peacemaker... Way Cool...