Dzhokonda55

Hello guys.
I am from Central NJ and my boyfriend is an author and musician so his ideas of travel is kind of ‘strange’ lol…thus his dream is to visit Boot Hill Cemetery…
I am trying to help.
is there anybody who can help to plan this trip - please do.
I am looking forward to hear from you travelers and appreciate it in advance.

MichelleY

We visited Boot Hill/Tombstone as a day trip from Tucson. Use Tucson as a base. Lots to see and do. We have visited in late April for nice weather plus the PaloVerde trees and cactus are blooming that time of year.

MmePerdu

Why the attraction to Boot Hill? Tombstone is a tourist attraction so if you like that sort of olde-timey but essentially fake vibe, go for it. On the subject of where to stay it depends entirely on where you're coming from & where you're going. For me the attraction to the area, where I lived for a long time, isn't the cities but the small historic towns and some pretty dramatic landscapes. The next town beyond Tombstone is Bisbee, 25 miles, where I lived & is infinitely more interesting. So, if coming from Tucson, a stop in Tombstone & stay in Bisbee would be a good choice.

Please define "strange" or otherwise give us some hints on the kinds of things that qualify as interesting to you.

Dzhokonda55

apparently if someone is asking a question - it is only fair to assume there is a reason or if there isn’t - just don’t answer.

Dzhokonda55

thanks. My boyfriend is a writer and he has a lot of knowledge about this place but had never been there. It is going to be a great trip for us considering how much information he has already acquired about this particular place. I am thinking maybe road trip in RV would be the best way but at this time - nobody knows which traveling option is best.

I am not planing this trip to happen soon but I am doing my homework so far. Thanks for your info.

MmePerdu

Hmm, I guess I've been told! Exactly what I've been told eludes me. But too bad, I had so much to give.

jet519

Hi! I live in New Mexico about 4 hours from Tucson so we go there fairly often and we have been to Tombstone twice, first time on our own, then with friends who wanted to see it. It is a very touristy area but the cemetery is fascinating, entertaining and funny. I would say that was our favorite stop in Tombstone both times. You can spend a few hours roaming around the cemetery reading the tombstones. If your boyfriend has done lots of research already, that will probably make it even more interesting. The rest of the town consists of several historical buildings in the small downtown area, an OK Corral type live show, a neat saloon with pretty good food and live music and a few other attractions. We went to the OK Corral show, it was very windy and chilly that day and it takes place outside but it was entertaining enough one time! I would not go to that again. We enjoyed the saloon for lunch, fun atmosphere. We did not go to any of the other attractions that required separate fees to see, there are several I think.

My advice would be to make Tucson your base as other posters suggested. In Tucson, go to the Sonoran Desert Museum, Saguaro National Park West (they are both right by each other) so you can spend some time amongst the Saguaros. This is a stunning area that you can't see anywhere else and I never get tired of going there. The raptor flight presentation at the Sonoran Desert Museum is one of our favorite things to do there. The raptor flight is only during the cooler months, around October 15 through probably March 15, check website. There are many beautiful drives and hikes in the Saguaros.

We have also been to Bisbee, probably more than 10 years ago as another poster mentioned and we combined it with Tombstone. We were only there a few hours but it is an interesting little town with lots of art galleries, shops from what I remember. You could stay a few days in Tucson, plenty to keep you busy when you start to research attractions there, then go to Tombstone early in the day, Bisbee, spend the night in Bisbee, then go early the next day to Chircahua National Monument for a beautiful drive and hikes if you like. It is a hidden gem that is only about an hour and a half from Bisbee. Then you could go back to Tucson at the end of that day, about a two hour drive. You could easily spend a week with this plan. Fall or spring would be nice times to go. Fall would be the best because spring can bring wind storms to the Southwest and they can be pretty ferocious, even close interstate 10 at times.
That's my two cents, but feel free to ask more specific questions.

Parktrvl

We've been there twice. The most interest place there is The Tombstone Epitaph newspaper office. You can purchase historic newspaper editions there like the OK corral fight. Extracted from their web site:

• Explore the 1880s museum of Arizona's oldest continuously published newspaper. Located on Fifth Street between Allen and Fremont Streets behind the Crystal Palace Saloon. FREE ADMISSION!
• Read the original 1881 reports of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Receive a reprint of the 1881 Epitaph with the original Gunfight reports as part of your O.K. Corral admission ticket.
• Learn how Epitaph editor, John Clum, captured the Apache warrior Geronimo and why he hired the Earps to defend Tombstone.
• Watch how The Epitaph was printed in the 1880s on the original Washington hand press. In the back shop, see composing stones, linotype machines, type cases, and interpretive displays that chronicle The Epitaph's "hot metal" days.

Another Boot Hill we admire is located in Pioche, Nv: Quote from their web site:
Ever read about legendary Wild West greats like Dodge City and Tombstone, where lawlessness and deadly, drunken brawls were commonplace? Gunslinging just so happened to be a favorite pastime in Nevada’s far-flung mining town of Pioche, too. Except in a way bigger way, with even more shooting crimes and a whole lot more murder. During Pioche’s heyday, the story goes that hired gunmen were recruited in droves, just to protect mining claims and keep mining operations cranking at full steam. Legend has it that the bullets were flying at such a rate in old Pioche that some people got shot before they even disembarked from their stagecoaches. In fact, in 1871, an astonishing 72 unfortunate souls were laid to rest before a single person died of natural causes. Compare that with Tombstone’s three total homicides on record. (Oh, Hollywood…)

HappyTrvlr

Reading the witty epitaphs on the tombstones are worth the trip to Boot Hill.

Parktrvl

While Pioche is not a fully restored tourist ghost town, it has it charm and history. The mining tram/cable is still visible from the mountain to the processing plant in the valley.

From an article
As wealth grew, so did the town’s population up to 6,000-10,000 people at its peak in 1871. It hosted two daily newspapers, telegraph service, 72 saloons with appropriate women hosts and two breweries. By 1871, it was the single most active mining town in southeast Nevada. Like many mining boom towns, it was not a law abiding place to live. In 1871 Mike Casey and Thomas Gossan had a quarrel that ended in a gunfight where Gossan died. His dying gasp was that whoever killed Casey would receive a $5,000 reward. An unknown, but skilled gunfighter known as Jim Levy challenged Casey and killed him in front of Freudenthal’s general store. After the first bullet, Jim then beat him over the head with his pistol. During the fight, Levy was shot in the jaw by a Casey friend, but he recovered. Jim stayed in town until about 1874 after killing at least one other person. Levy collected the $5,000.

Some of the high death rate can be attributed to the miners hiring “gun fighters” to protect their mining claim at $20.00 per day. Gun fighters were more effective than the local law which was a center of bribes estimated to be at $40,000 each year. The same was true of juries. When not on duty protecting a mine claim, the gun fighters tested each other and any other fools who felt lucky. Legend says that almost twenty professional gun fighters were brought in each day to protect various mining claim boundaries. Many deaths were over stupid arguments. Also, the lure of robbing the freight wagons from the local mines to a railroad center was obsessive to the bad guys. IT was considered the "wildest" mining camp in the west.

Nelson

Here Lies
Lester Moore
Four slugs from a 44
No Les
No More

HappyTrvlr

Yes, Les Moore’s epitaph is a classic!

Podie

I won't do the gunfights and other touristy stuff you pay for in Tombstone, but even after a few times, I get an incredible sense of awe walking down the street and knowing this is actually where it all happened. The Bird Cage Theatre is said to be haunted and I wouldn't go in there a second time lol. What a lot of people miss is the courthouse, which is a state park. Definitely worth a visit! Unfortunately, the town outside of the historic area is run down and has a lot of sketchy characters.

Parktrvl

Did not know about that court house - thanks - more to see and running out of time to do dat
I am familiar with Pioche, Nv $1,000,000 court house