39 Best Sights in Tucson, Arizona

The name "museum" is a bit misleading, since this delightful site is actually a zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden featuring the animals, plants, and even fish of the Sonoran Desert. Hummingbirds, coatis, rattlesnakes, scorpions, bighorn sheep, bobcats, and Mexican wolves all busy themselves in ingeniously designed habitats.

An Earth Sciences Center has an artificial limestone cave to climb through and an excellent mineral display. The coyote and javelina (a wild, piglike mammal with an oddly oversize head) exhibits have "invisible" fencing that separates humans from animals, and at the Raptor Free Flight show (October through April, daily at 10 and 2), you can see the powerful birds soar and dive, untethered, inches above your head.

The restaurants are above average, and the gift shop, which carries books, jewelry, and crafts, is outstanding. June through August, the museum stays open until 9 pm every Saturday, which provides a great opportunity to see nocturnal critters.

The oldest Catholic church in the United States still serving the community for which it was built, San Xavier was founded in 1692 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, who established 22 missions in northern Mexico and Southern Arizona. The current structure was made out of native materials by Franciscan missionaries between 1777 and 1797, and is owned by the Tohono O'odham tribe.

The beauty of the mission, with elements of Spanish, baroque, and Moorish architectural styles, is highlighted by the stark landscape against which it is set, inspiring an early-20th-century poet to dub it the White Dove of the Desert.

Inside, there's a wealth of painted statues, carvings, and frescoes. Paul Schwartzbaum, who helped restore Michelangelo's masterwork in Rome, supervised Tohono O'odham artisans in the restoration of the mission's artwork, completed in 1997; Schwartzbaum has called the mission the Sistine Chapel of the United States.

Across the parking lot from the mission, San Xavier Plaza has a couple of crafts shops selling the handiwork of the Tohono O'odham tribe, including jewelry, pottery, friendship bowls, and woven baskets with man-in-the-maze designs.

Year-round, locals flock to Coronado National Forest to hike, picnic, and enjoy the waterfalls, streams, swimming holes, saguaros, and shade trees. No cars or bicycles are allowed on the roads and trails, but you can walk or take a narrated open-air tram ride (about 45 minutes round-trip) up the wide WPA-built road to the top of the canyon; hop off and on at any of the nine stops or hike any of the numerous trails.

There's also a shorter tram ride (or you can walk) to adjacent Bear Canyon, where a rigorous but rewarding hike leads to the popular Seven Falls (it'll take about 1½ to 2 hours each way from the drop-off point, so carry plenty of water). If you're in Tucson on a summer weekend, take the special Saturday evening tram, running from June to October, and watch the desert come alive with nocturnal critters.

Students and counterculturists favor the ½-mile strip of 4th Avenue between University Boulevard and 8th Street, where vintage-clothing stores rub shoulders with eclectic gift shops and eateries. After dark, 4th Avenue bars pulse with live and recorded music.

The original name of this mountain, Sentinel Peak, west of Downtown, came from its function as a lookout point for the Spanish, though the Pima village and cultivated fields that once lay at the base of the peak are long gone. In 1915 fans of the University of Arizona football team whitewashed a large "A" on its side to celebrate a victory, and the tradition has been kept up ever since—the permanent "A" is now red, white, and blue. During the day, the peak's a great place to get an overview of the town's layout; at night the city lights below form a dazzling carpet, but the teenage hangout scene may make some uncomfortable.

The museum has exhibits exploring the history of Southern Arizona, starting with the Indigenous Hohokam Tribe and the Spanish explorers. The harrowing Life on the Edge: A History of Medicine in Arizona exhibit promotes a new appreciation of modern drugstores in present-day Tucson. Children enjoy the exhibit on copper mining (with an atmospheric replica of a mine shaft and camp) and the stagecoaches in the transportation area.

The library has an extensive collection of historic Arizona photographs and sells inexpensive reprints. Park in the garage at the corner of 2nd and Euclid streets and get a free parking pass in the museum.

Inside the main gate of the university is Arizona's oldest museum, dating from territorial days (1893) and a preeminent resource for the study of Southwestern cultures. Exhibits include the largest collections of Southwest Native American pottery and basketry, as well as Paths of Life: American Indians of the Southwest—a permanent exhibit that explores the cultural traditions, origins, and contemporary lives of 10 native tribes of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.

This mining operations center elucidates the importance of mining to everyday life. Indoor exhibits include a walk-through model of an ore crusher, video stations that explain refining processes, and a film about how minerals are actually extracted. Outside, you can see some of the actual equipment, including a few gargantuan trucks used for hauling the stuff. The big draw, though, is the yawning open pit of the Mission Mine, some 2 miles long and 1¾ miles wide because so much earth has to be torn up to extract the 1% that is copper. It's impressive, but doesn't bolster the case the center tries to make about how environmentally conscious mining has become. Tours of the pit take a little over an hour; call ahead for the tour schedule, which is limited during summer months, due to the heat.

In the town of Oracle, about 30 minutes northwest of Tucson, this unique, self-contained cluster of ecosystems opened in 1991 as a facility to test nature technology and human interaction with it. Now managed by the University of Arizona, the biomes include tropical rain forest, savanna, desert, thorn scrub, marsh, and ocean areas. The newest biome, the Landscape Evolutionary Observatory, tracks rainfall in simulated desert environments to study the effects of climate change on water sources and plant life in this region.

A 1-mile walking tour (given through an App with audio) takes you inside the biomes and gives an overview of Biosphere projects, from the original "human missions"—where scientists literally ate, slept, and breathed their work in a closed system—to current research. A gift shop sells souvenirs and light snacks.

The Pascua Yaqui tribe's main facility, Casino del Sol Resort has live poker and blackjack, bingo, and slots. The excellent PY Steakhouse, an Asian-fusion restaurant, and several casual eateries provide multiple dining options. Attached to the casino are a 215-room hotel and conference center (a pleasant enough base if you don't mind being a half-hour from town), a golf course, and the 4,600-seat outdoor amphitheater AVA, which books top entertainers from September through May.

The Pascua Yaqui tribe's original gaming venture, just down the road from Casino del Sol, has slot and video-gambling machines only, and one casual restaurant.

Ansel Adams conceived the idea of a photographer's archive and donated the majority of his negatives to this museum. In addition to its superb collection of his work, the center houses the David Hume Kennerly Archive and works by other major photographers, including Paul Strand, W. Eugene Smith, Edward Weston, and Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Changing exhibits in the main gallery display selected pieces from the collection. 

Youngsters are encouraged to touch and explore the science, language, and history exhibits here. They can examine a patient in the Bodyology Center and care for (stuffed) doggies at the PetVet exhibit. Investigation Station has air-pressure tubes where balls and scarves whiz around, and there's a Discovery Garden for all ages to climb, slide, and burn off steam. Admission is free on Thursday evenings from 5 to 7 pm and on second Saturdays.

This limestone grotto 20 miles southeast of Tucson is the largest dry cavern in the world. Guides discuss the fascinating crystal formations and relate the many romantic tales surrounding the cave, including the legend that an enormous sum of money stolen in a stagecoach robbery is hidden here.

Forty-five-minute cave tours begin every hour on the hour and require a ½-mile walk and a climb of 363 steps. The park includes a ranch area with horseback rides through saguaro forests offered October–May (from $40), a gemstone-sluicing area, a petting zoo, a gift shop, and a café. You can also picnic, hike, and mountain-bike in the surrounding 2,400-acre wilderness park; campsites ($10) are on a first-come first-served basis.

Arizonan artist Ted DeGrazia, who depicted Southwest Native American and Mexican life in a manner some find kitschy and others adore, built this sprawling, spacious, single-story museum with the assistance of Native American friends, using only natural material from the surrounding desert. You can visit DeGrazia's workshop, former home, tranquil chapel, and grave. Although the original works are not for sale, the museum's gift shop has a wide selection of prints, ceramics, and books by and about the colorful artist.

The Tohono O'odham tribe operates the Desert Diamond Casinos, which has an indoor concert venue, a hotel and conference center, several restaurants, and plenty of one-armed bandits and video poker in addition to live blackjack, poker, and bingo.

North of the Convention Center and the government buildings, El Presidio Historic District is an architectural thumbnail of the city's former self. The north–south streets Court, Meyer, and Main are sprinkled with traditional Mexican adobe houses sitting cheek by jowl with Territorial-style houses with wide attics and porches. Paseo Redondo, once called Snob Hollow, is the wide road along which wealthy merchants built their homes.

The area most closely resembling 19th-century Tucson is the Barrio Historico, also known as Barrio Viejo. The narrow streets of this neighborhood, including Convent Avenue, have a good sampling of thick-walled adobe houses. The colorfully painted houses are close to the street, hiding the yards and gardens within.

To the east of the Barrio Historico, across Stone Avenue, is the Armory Park neighborhood, mostly constructed by and for the railroad workers who settled here after the 1880s. The brick or wood Territorial-style homes here were the Victorian era's adaptation to the desert climate.

No one seems to know the details of the story behind this little shrine, but everyone agrees a tragic love triangle was involved. A bronze plaque indicates only that it's dedicated to a sinner who is buried here on unconsecrated ground. The candles that line the cactus-shrouded spot attest to its continuing importance in local Catholic lore. People light candles and leave milagros ("miracles," or little icons used in prayers for healing) for loved ones. A modern-day miracle: the shrine's inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places helped prevent a freeway from plowing through this section of the Barrio Historico.

Attractions at the university's science museum include a 16-inch public telescope for evening stargazing; hands-on science exhibits about the solar system, fossils, bugs and marine biology; and planetarium shows.

If you like vintage signs, clocks, and neon art, check out this quirky and cleverly designed museum, a labor of love (and ingenuity) by Tucson sign artist Jude Cook and his wife Monica. The collection, impressive in its breadth, includes rescued, restored signs from mid-century businesses, as well as vintage wall thermometers, soda and beer signs, and items that you would never guess used neon, like old medicinal remedies for sore throats and balding hair. Demonstrations of glass bending and neon sign-making are given on most days.

With approximately 200 miles of scenic trails, the recreation area of Madera Canyon—which includes Mount Wrightson, the highest peak in Southern Arizona, at 9,453 feet—is a haven for hikers and birders. Trails vary from a steep trek up Mount Baldy to a paved, wheelchair-accessible path along the creek. Birders flock here year-round; about 400 avian species have been spotted in the area.

There are picnic tables and ramadas near the parking areas, and camping is available. The Santa Rita Lodge, with charming cabins, has numerous bird feeders and a gift shop. Friends of Madera Canyon operate an information station here on the weekends.

When Pat Arnell began collecting miniatures in the late 1970s, she probably didn't imagine that her hobby would eventually outgrow her house and become an offbeat but effective vehicle for people of all ages to explore history and culture. The modern museum displays more than 275 doll houses and room boxes, antique through contemporary, from the United States, Europe, and Asia. There are also plenty of wee folk, like fairies, wizards, and kewpie dolls, and even tiny appliance "samples" that were carried door-to-door by traveling salespeople.

Part of the Santa Catalina range, Mount Lemmon—named for Sara Lemmon, the first woman to reach the peak of this mountain, in 1881—is the southernmost ski slope in the continental United States, but you don't have to be a skier to enjoy the area: in summer, it's a popular place for picnicking, and there are 150 miles of marked and well-maintained trails for hiking. The mountain's 9,157-foot elevation brings relief from summer heat (temperatures are typically 25 degrees lower than in Tucson).

Mount Lemmon Highway twists for 28 miles up the mountainside; driving time from midtown is about an hour. Every 1,000-foot climb in elevation is equivalent, in terms of climate, to traveling 300 miles north: you'll move from typical Sonoran Desert plants in the foothills to vegetation similar to that found in southern Canada at the top. Rock formations along the way look as though they were carefully balanced against each other by sculptors from another planet.

Even if you don't make it to the top of the mountain, you'll find stunning views of Tucson at Windy Point, about halfway up. Look for a road on your left between the Windy Point and San Pedro lookouts; it leads to Rose Canyon lake, a lovely reservoir.

Just before you reach the ski area, you'll pass through the tiny alpine-style village of Summerhaven, which has a lodge and some casual restaurants, most notably a branch of Beyond Bread, where you can dine in or take your sandwich to a choice picnic spot. Marshall Gulch, a popular hiking trail, is just a little further down the road.

There are no gas stations on Mount Lemmon Highway, so gas up before you leave town and check the road conditions in winter.

To reach the highway, take Tanque Verde Road to Catalina Highway, which becomes Mount Lemmon Highway.

Follow Mount Lemmon Highway to its end and you're at Mount Lemmon Ski Valley. Skiing and snowboarding here depend on natural conditions; there's no artificial snow, so call ahead. There are 21 runs, ranging from beginner to advanced. Lift tickets cost $69 for an all-day pass and $59 for a half-day pass starting at 12:30 pm. Equipment rentals and instruction are available.

Off-season you can take a ride on the chairlift ($15), which whisks you to the top of the slope—some 9,100 feet above sea level. Many ride the lift, then hike on one of several trails that crisscross the summit. The Iron Door Restaurant, across the road, serves sandwiches, soups, and homemade pies, which you can enjoy with gorgeous views.

At the University of Arizona's research observatory on Mount Lemmon, visitors can plumb the night sky on the highest mountain in the area using the largest public-viewing telescope in the Southwest. A five-hour stargazing program is offered nightly (weather permitting), and includes an interactive astronomy presentation, telescope viewing, and a light dinner.

This huge facility ranks among the largest private collections of aircraft in the world. More than 400 airplanes are on display in hangars and outside, including a presidential plane used by both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; a full-scale replica of the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer; the SR-71 reconnaissance jet; and a mock-up of the X-15, the world's fastest aircraft. World War II planes are particularly well represented.

Meander on your own (even leashed pets are allowed) or take a free walking tour led by volunteer docents. The open-air tram tour (an additional $8 fee) narrates all outside aircraft. An on-site restaurant, The Flight Grill, is open daily.

This pink Spanish Colonial–style building with a mosaic-tile dome is among Tucson's most beautiful historic structures. Still in use, it was built in 1927 on the site of the original single-story adobe court of 1869; a portion of the old presidio wall can be seen in the south wing of the courthouse's second floor. The first floor now houses the Tucson Visitor Center and the University of Arizona Gem and Mineral Museum. Behind the building is a lovely memorial garden honoring the 19 people who were killed or injured in the shooting attack on January 8, 2011.

This small but well-designed zoo won't tax your patience. There are plenty of shady places to sit, a well-stocked gift shop, a carousel, and a snack bar to rev you up when your energy flags. You can feed carrots to the zoo's friendly giraffes each morning at 10 (9:30 June--September, $3). At the African elephants habitat, you might view a training session (look for posted times at the entrance). If you're visiting in summer, go early in the day when the animals are active.

Across the street from the Tumacácori National Historic Park, the Santa Cruz Spice Factory packs and sells 240 varieties of herbs and spices, including the owner's home-grown chili powders and pastes. A little museum, tasting area, and store are open Monday through Saturday.

Although the imposing white-and-beige, late-19th-century, Spanish-style building was modeled after the Cathedral of Queretaro in Mexico, a number of its details reflect the desert setting. For instance, above the entryway, next to a bronze statue of St. Augustine, are carvings of local desert scenes with saguaro cacti, yucca, and prickly pears—look closely and you'll find the horned toad. Compared with the magnificent facade, the modernized interior is a bit disappointing. For a distinctly Southwestern experience, attend the mariachi mass celebrated Sunday at 8 am.