Need Tucson Must-see Places

[Aerides]

If you are staying in a B&B/hotel, ask the host if they provide a humidifier for your bedroom.

If not, unless you are used to the dry weather, bring your own, especially in the winter. Your nose will thank you.

 

[grasshopper]

Ms G saw her first Javelina at the Sonora Desert Museum. Oh she says I would love to have them on my property.

Be careful of what you wish for.

 

[REWahoo]

Ms G saw her first Javelina at the Sonora Desert Museum. Oh she says I would love to have them on my property.

Be careful of what you wish for.

Yep!

Three Javelina attacked and almost killed our lab several years ago. They can be vicious.

 

[Spock]

Ms G saw her first Javelina at the Sonora Desert Museum. Oh she says I would love to have them on my property.

Be careful of what you wish for.

About a week after we moved to Tucson from Minnesota my wife was walking the dog in the apartment complex designated pet area when she realized she was surrounded by Javelina including mothers with young ones. We went to the Desert Museum that very weekend to learn about what other critters we needed to be wary of.
I got security cam video of a small herd of them walking across my driveway 2 months ago.

 

[Aerides]

Oh yeah I came close to one of those on a hike. In retrospect, it was stupid to get the pic (couldn't resist), I should have backed away that second.

 

[audreyh1]

Ms G saw her first Javelina at the Sonora Desert Museum. Oh she says I would love to have them on my property.

Be careful of what you wish for.

No kidding! We had a large way too tame group at the state park next door. They always made me nervous and I’d avoid especially the babies. People would do such stupid things like feed them marshmallows. The 2010 Rio Grande flood dispersed those tame ones. Finally after many years javelinas started reappearing. Fortunately these are appropriately wary of humans and avoid us.

 

[gailwinters]

Sonora Desert Museum is a must. The raptor free flight is an incredible experience.

We enjoyed our trip to the Biosphere.

 

[ImaCheesehead]

40+ year Tucson resident here. Lot's of good suggestions so far. Mine would be:

Arizona Sonora Desert Musem
Pima Air Museum
Davis Monthan Boneyard (will need to get tickets well ahead these days for security reasons)
Titan Missle Museum in Green Valley
San Xavier Del Bac Mission
Tumacacori Mission NHP
Collosal cave I would put in tier II but it is ok
Saguaro National Park
Degrazia Gallery
Mission Garden
Kitt Peak National Observatory
Mt. Lemmon
Catalina State Park
Madera Canyon near Green Valley
Best Mexican food in the world!

Feel free to PM me if you have specific interests or need directions, etc.

Terrific list. We are headed back to Tucson tomorrow for a couple of weeks and have done some, but not all, of the items on your list.

One question - where do you go for your Mexican food??

 

[oscar1]

You dudes are awesome with these suggestions!

 

[SecondAttempt]

One question - where do you go for your Mexican food??

Everyone has their favorite of course but anything on south 4th avenue is good. A couple I'd mention are Mi Nidito and Micha's. There used to be several Casa Molina's around town (all the same family) but I know several have closed. One of those was my personal favorite but that was largely because of a convenient location. El Charro downtown is pretty good but parking is a pain downtown so I avoided it.

They took Bill Clinton to Micha's when he was in town when he was president for what that's worth.

I moved to Hawaii almost 10 years ago and we alll know what happened to restaurants during covid so I don't even know if any of these are still open.

All of those serve "Sonoran style" Mexican food which is probably better described as "Arizona style." It's only vaguely like what you actually get in Sonora.

One final suggestion if only because it is so different from what we Americans think of as Mexican food is a place called La Parilla Suiza (The Swiss Grill). It is supposedly more like Mexico City style cuisine. It's good but quite different. There used to be a couple of them in Tucson, one on Oracle Road and the other on East Speedway I think.

Many of the more popular restaurants will have mariachis on Friday and Saturday nights. Sadly, all the places that I know that reliably had mariachis closed before I moved.

TLDR; anything around 4th Avenue and 36th street will be good!

 

[SecondAttempt]

No kidding! We had a large way too tame group at the state park next door. They always made me nervous and I’d avoid especially the babies. People would do such stupid things like feed them marshmallows. The 2010 Rio Grande flood dispersed those tame ones. Finally after many years javelinas started reappearing. Fortunately these are appropriately wary of humans and avoid us.

In all my years hiking and hunting in Arizona I ran into javelina many times. Like any wild animal, they would prefer to avoid you. If you come upon one or a group they will often stand their ground to assess you then turn and run suddenly. Best advice is back off, make sure they have an escape route and gradually back away. If they don't have an eescape route they will charge right at you. For them this is a last resort. Their eyesight is not great so they are smelling you to identify you. In most cases you can smell javelina before you see them but if you don't know the smell that probably is not helpful.

Funny, this is almost the same advice I give to people worried about sharks in Hawaii!

Similarly, I've never worried about coyotes or bobcats when hiking although I have seen both. Mountain lions concern me but I have never seen one in the wild. They are pretty rare but encounters between people and lions have become more common for some reason.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Terrific list. We are headed back to Tucson tomorrow for a couple of weeks and have done some, but not all, of the items on your list.

If you are going for a couple of weeks starting now-ish you will be there for the gem show and possibly the rodeo. Both are major events with lots of special activities! Maybe that's why you are going. If not, definitely worth checking out.

 

[SecondAttempt]

In all seriousness, you should have great weather and the mammals are not what I would warn you about if you venture into the desert this time of year even for a picnic. This is the time of year when you encounter rattlesnakes sunning themselves during the day. In the summer when it is hot they are more likely to be active at night. Same advice as javelina - you are too big to eat. They just want to get away from you. If you hear a rattle, freeze, figure out where it is if you can, and back away! If you don't know what a rattle sounds like I bet youtube would be helpful.

Again, it is something to educate yourself about and be prepared for, not something to worry over.

As they say, the most common words spoken before a rattlesnake bite are "Hold my beer and watch this."

 

[SecondAttempt]

Li'l Abners

LI'l Abner's Steakhouse

+1

And Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. Make sure you wear a tie you hate.

There are a couple of steakhouses with western shows, at least there used to be. Never went to one but if that's of interest I can probably dig something up.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. Get the Porterhouse rare -

 

[kevink]

We moved to Tucson about 4 years ago and appreciate the city more and more as we continue to explore. We're dedicated "foodies" as well as avid hikers so my comments reflect those priorities.

The desert here is uniquely lush and beautiful. The less crowded trails are on the West side of town. I recommend Painted Hills for a gentle introduction, and Starr Pass or Hidden Canyon if you're up for something a bit hillier. All can be done as out-and-backs in an hour or so. Sabino Canyon on the NE side is over-run most of the time. We avoid it like the plague for that reason, beautiful as it is. Finger Rocks or Pima Trail are better bets but as this is peak season you still need to get there well before 9 a.m. if you hope to find parking.

Having lived in México for fiver years we think the so-called Sonoran cuisine here is severely over-rated and quite bland. The worst places are tourist traps like El Charro that charge ~$15 a plate for food that can be had at places like St. Mary's Mexican on Anklam or Taqueria Juanito for half that price (and much better quality).

Much more exciting are some of the cutting-edge places using local ingredients in innovative ways that earned Tucson its UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation. Barrio Bread on Eastbourne near Broadway is run by James Beard Award winning baker Don Guerra and is well worth a pilgrimage. Ditto with Monsoon Chocolate, a brew pub with phenomenal food (try their daily specials, fried chicken or Zip Burger) called Ermano's on South Fourth Avenue, specialty grocery store Time Market and another brew pub called The Parish. Miss Saigon for Vietnamese and authentic Szechuan cuisine at Jung Dynasty are also recommended.

Hope you enjoy your visit!