Self-Directed Field Trips

Be sure to check website for current hours, fees and directions.

Places of interest close to Tucson (within 30 minute drive from hotel):

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

  • Open 7:30 am – 5:00 pm. $12 adults, $4 children 6-12, Free children 5 and under.
  • The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place! Exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region so realistically you find yourself eye-to-eye with mountain lions, prairie dogs, Gila monsters, and more. Within the Museum grounds, you will see more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants. There are almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.
  • http://www.desertmuseum.org/

Saguaro National Park East or West Visitor’s Center

  • $10 for a private vehicle (good for 7 days)
  • Home of the giant saguaro cactus and other species of desert plants and animals. There are two districts – Tucson Mountain (Saguaro west) and Rincon Mountain (Saguaro east). Both have visitor’s centers. The Rincon Mountain district is a bit higher and offers more diversity. The Tucson Mountain district is near the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
  • http://www.nps.gov/sagu/

Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area

  • $5 day pass - self guided day hike with informational signage. Visitor center open 8:00 – 4:30 daily.
  • A great natural setting only 12 miles from downtown Tucson. Hike along Sabino Creek to see riparian vegetation and saguaro cactus. Picnic areas along the way. Sabino Canyon is great for children as the walking is easy.
  • http://www.desertusa.com/azsabino/sabino.html
  • Camping information

Pima County Air and Space Museum

  • Open 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. $11.75 adults, $9.75 seniors, $8.00 children 7-12, Free children 6 and under
  • If you love planes and aviation, this is the place for you! There are acres of planes for viewing. Climb aboard President Kennedy's Air Force One and gaze at the spectacular, supersonic, SR-71 Blackbird "Spy Plane".
  • http://www.pimaair.org/

Arizona Historical Society

  • The Arizona Historical Society is Arizona’s oldest cultural organization, founded by the territorial legislature on November 7, 1864, charged with preserving Arizona history for the present and future. There are four venues in Tucson to visit.
  • http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/

Arizona State Museum

  • At the Arizona State Museum you experience the vibrant indigenous cultures of Arizona and northern Mexico through exhibitions, educational programs, a research library, and a museum store. The museum’s scholars and extensive collections are among the most significant resources in the world for the study of Southwest peoples. Located on the campus of the University of Arizona.
  • http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/

Mission San Xavier del Bac

  • Mission San Xavier del Bac is situated in the Santa Cruz Valley nine miles south of Tucson, Arizona. Framed in the warm browns of the surrounding hills and the violet shadows of more distant mountains, it rises, brilliantly white from the desert floor of dusty green mesquite and sage. The imposing dome and lofty towers, the rounded parapets and graceful spires etched against the vivid blue complete a skyline with a graceful enchantment.
  • http://www.sanxaviermission.org/

Other Southern Arizona attractions can be found at http://www.tucsonattractions.com/index.htm

Places of interest out of town (more than a 30 minute drive from hotel):

Biosphere 2 Center – 30 minutes from Tucson

  • Open 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. $19.95 adults, $12.95 children 6-12, Free children under 6.
  • Biosphere 2 is an attempt to create a more-or-less closed self-sustaining ecosystem in the heart of the desert. It is a fascinating place and structure.
  • http://www.bio2.com/

Tubac Presidio State Historic Park – 45 minutes from Tucson

  • Located 45 miles south of Tucson off Interstate 19 near the community of Tubac. Tubac Presidio is Arizona's first state park. In 1691, Jesuit priest Eusebio Francisco Kino established a mission farm and ranch at Tubac, the site of a small Piman village. Spanish colonists began settling the area in the 1730s raising cattle, sheep and goats along the Santa Cruz River.
  • http://www.azparks.gov/Parks/parkhtml/tubac.html

Kitt Peak National Observatory – 90 minutes from Tucson

  • Open 9:00 am – 3:45 pm. Guided tours available.
  • The world's largest collection of optical telescopes is located high above the Sonoran Desert under some of the finest night skies in the world. Kitt Peak, on the Tohono O'odham Reservation, is home to twenty-two optical and two radio telescopes representing eight astronomical research institutions.
  • http://www.noao.edu/kpno/

Fort Bowie National Historic Site – 2 hours from Tucson

  • Fort Bowie commemorates the story of the bitter conflict between the Chiricahua Apaches and the United States military and stands as a lasting monument to the bravery and endurance of U.S. soldiers in paving the way for westward settlement and the taming of the western frontier. It also serves to provide insight into understanding a "clash of cultures," one side a young emerging nation in pursuit of its "manifest destiny," the other a valiant hunter/gatherer society fighting to preserve its existence.
  • http://www.nps.gov/fobo/
  • No reservations necessary

Chiricahua National Monument – 2+ hours from Tucson

  • A “Wonderland of Rocks” is waiting for you to explore at Chiricahua National Monument. This forest of rock spires was eroded from layers of ash deposited by the Turkey Creek Volcano eruption 27 million years ago. The 8 mile paved scenic drive and 18 miles of day-use hiking trails provide opportunities to discover the beauty, natural sounds, and inhabitants of this 11,985 acre site. Visit the Faraway Ranch Historic District to discover more about the people who have called this area home: Chiricahua Apaches, Buffalo Soldiers, Erickson and Stafford families.
  • http://www.nps.gov/chir/
  • No reservations necessary

Tumacácori National Historic Park – about 1 hour from Tucson

  • Tumacácori NHP protects three Spanish colonial mission ruins in southern Arizona: Tumacácori, Guevavi, and Calabazas. The adobe structures are on three sites, with a visitor center at Tumacácori. These missions are among more than twenty established in the Pimería Alta by Father Kino and other Jesuits, and later expanded upon by Franciscan missionaries.
  • http://www.nps.gov/tuma/index.htm
  • No reservations necessary

Kartchner Caverns State Park – 1 hour from Tucson

  • Open 7:30 am – 6:00 pm. Guided tours available.
  • In November 1974 two young cavers, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts, were exploring the limestone hills at the base of the Whetstone Mountains. In the bottom of a sinkhole they found a narrow crack leading into the hillside. It wasn't until February 1978 that Tenen and Tufts told the property owners, James and Lois Kartchner, about their discovery. During the four years of secret exploration, the discoverers realized that the cave's extraordinary variety of colors and formations must be preserved. The cave's existence became public knowledge in 1988 when its purchase was approved as an Arizona State Park. Extraordinary precautions have been taken during its development to conserve the cave's near-pristine condition.
  • http://www.azstateparks.com/Parks/parkhtml/kartchner.html
  • Reservations necessary.