Suggestions outside of Pheonix?
 

Hello!
We will be flying int Phoenix in mid-March and going to Oro Valley for 4 days. After that, my husband and I would like to spend a couple of days somewhere else, before we fly back out of Phoenix. Any suggestions on a good destination that doesn't involve a lot of driving? We are outdoorsy people, love to hike, don't like touristy places, like active things to do etc.. Thanks!

Since Oro Valley is a suburb of Tucson, will you be seeing Tucson’s treasures while in the area? Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Mission San Xavier del Bac, Gallery of the Sun to name a few of them.
There are many trailheads in the Santa Catalina Mts. with potential for excellent hiking.

Good information, thank you. I'll check into those!

What do you consider a lot of driving? Are you planning to drive back to PHX the same day you fly out?

Chiricahua NM southeast of Willcox has fabulous hiking, best with 2 cars but there should be a morning shuttle up to the east end for the one way walk back. Even one way is about 10 miles. One of my favorite USA hikes and both the remoteness and length of hikes means it will be quiet. Willcox is rather a dump unfortunately.

Catalina State Park has some nice trails.
Biosphere 2 isn’t far from where you’ll be.

I agree with the above post about Sabino Canyon and Mt Lemmon. Both are great for hiking and you get to completely different climates and ecosystems within a short drive of each other. If it's not too much of a distance to drive for you, Tombstone is a fascinating place to spend a day. Even further down is the old mining town of Bisbee, which is a quirky unique place mixed with Victorian styled buildings.

On your drive to/from Phoenix, check out the adobe ruins in Casa Grande. This might be too much driving for you, but we enjoyed a few days in Cottonwood. Nice little downtown. We visited Jerome and the fascinating copper museum in Clarkdale. There is also wine tasting nearby. We stayed at the very nice Tavern Hotel.

The shuttle at Chiricahua NM isn't currently running due to covid. Weekends can still be busy with day trippers from Tucson. When we got done with our hike around 11:30am last month the parking at Echo Canyon trail head was full with people waiting. If you're passing through Wilcox, you can make a quick stop at Cochise Lake to see if there are sandhill cranes still around.

The area around Sierra Vista has lots of beautiful hikes as well - Ramsey Canyon, Brown Canyon, Coronado National Memorial, San Pedro Riparian.

Madera Canyon is beautiful as well.

All of the above areas are south of Tucson and farther from Phoenix and I wasn't sure how far you wanted to travel.

Prescott has some nice hiking areas too.

In Tucson, in addition to the areas already mentioned, I'd recommend the trail system in Marana/Dove Mountain https://www.maranaaz.gov/trails

Well, for some reason my reply was sent to moderation. Will see if it appears later.

Patty: so was mine, I’m guessing that the name of the national monument triggers moderator review for some reason.

Thanks everyone for your input! Great ideas! I love this forum!!!!!

Enjoy! We will be in Oro Valley for a week at the end of April (COVID willing). Our previous visits to the Tucson area have been brief, so I'm looking forward to exploring in some depth. We especially want to spend more time in Bisbee. The Sonoran Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park are both favorites. the original El Charro in downtown is a must stop for their carne seca.

Sludick. Are you staying at Rancho Vistoso? We were there 2 years ago and loved it. We were supposed to go about the same time as you this year, but changed our plans and heading to Zihuatanejo next February.

Hope you have a nice time!

Yes we are! We had to push out a family Christmas vacation booked with WM points due to the pandemic, and have to use some up one way or another before summer. I'm looking forward to it - I have my eye on farmer's markets so that perhaps I can pick up some local eggs and other food for our unit. Our previous stays were one-nighters at a couple of the resorts in the same area, so an extended stay will be nice.

Perfect time to be there. The cactus will be starting to bloom, as well as the Palo Verde trees!

Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West is wonderful and they are offering public tours again -
https://franklloydwright.org/taliesin-west/
I used to love their Friday night tours because you could get a glimpse of what it must have been when he built his winter home in what was then the empty desert outside Scottsdale. No longer out by itself, one can imagine what it was like when he built it. Such an amazing place.