Tucson's Top Seven

A recent visitor to my “hacienda” was convinced that she would find cowboys tying up their horses outside saloons on dusty streets. There are still a fair number of horses around, but the streets are paved and four-wheel-drives outnumber four-legged mounts these days. The Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum helps newcomers understand the seeming contradiction of a lush desert. Mountains surround Tucson. In the Santa Catalinas, Mt. Lemmon hosts winter skiers a half-hour drive from the warm valley. In Saguaro National Park and Sabino Canyon recreation area, hikers, birders, mountain bikers and rock climbers find plenty of adventure near Tucson. Tucson’s Spanish presidio was founded in 1775, but earlier residents lived on the same spot as much as 3000 years ago. Old Tucson celebrates the Wild West days and the Pima Air and Space Museum covers the nineteenth century and the future. Biosphere 2 floats in time and space just north of town. Lying just 55 miles north of the Mexican border, Tucson has a strong Hispanic culture, reflected in a wealth of Mexican restaurants and Spanish architectural treasures like San Xavier del Bac. Tucson is one of those rare travel destinations where the reality exceeds expectations.

Quick Tips:

Carry a water bottle with you. Don't forget the sunscreen. Although July and August are sometimes searing, people from colder climes are awed by the year-round sunshine. Tucson is a casual place--dress for comfort.

Best Way To Get Around:

Public transportation is underdeveloped. The sites described here are best reached by car.

I always remind visitors to put on their sunscreen and wear comfortable shoes when we go to the Desert Museum. Although there are some buildings, most of the museum is outdoors.

Cactuses as small as your fingernail and 300-year-old giant saguaros line the paths. Lizards scurry across rocks and regal mountain sheep pose in their fenceless exhibit area. In the hummingbird walk-through exhibit, bright bundles of feathers whiz by our heads. If the exploration makes us hungry, we can stop at a snack shop or dine at the snazzy indoor/outdoor Ironwood Terrace.

Location: Fourteen miles west of Tucson. Take Speedway west over Gates Pass Road to Kenny Road and follow the signs. If you are driving a large vehicle, take Ajo Way instead of Speedway.

Hours: Every day of the year. 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Longer hours in summer.

Admission: $1.75 for six to 12 year olds; $8.95 for adults May to October; $9.95 November to April.

The forest of saguaro cactuses look like a bunch of bad guys marching up the hill, hands held high in surrender. And if the scenery looks familiar, it is probably because you have seen it in dozens of Western movies set in a dozen western states. But don’t be fooled. The saguaro only grows in the Arizona-Mexico border area and the thickest growth is in this park which edges Tucson on the east and the west.

Drive, bike or hike through the startling landscape and stick around for a five-star Tucson Sunset.

Location: Red Hills Visitor center on Kinney Road, near Arizona Sonora Desert Museum on the west side of Tucson. Reach the East visitor center by driving east on Speedway Boulevard and take Old Spanish Trail about 16 miles east of downtown Tucson.

Hours: Every day of the year

Admission: National Park pass or admission charge. Extra for campers.

Most asked question: Did Old Tucson burn down? Yes, it did, but it is back. An unfortunate fire wiped out decades of western movie memorabilia, but the old Western streets, the cantinas, saloons, banks and general store have been rebuilt, where, the promoters say, "Legends come alive."

None of this is real of course, but never mind. Pull on your cowboy boots, settle your Stetson on your head and saunter out west of Tucson to a place that lets you play cowboy or saloon girl, and be the movie star you always knew you were.

Location: Take Speedway Boulevard west and follow the signs to 201 South Kinney Road.

Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday ten to six and some Monday holidays.

"I remember how cold it was," says a veteran who flew in the giant B-39 bomber when he was only seventeen. World War II veterans serve as volunteer guides and bring the exhibits to life at Pima Air and Space. Many flew in the planes they are explaining.

The third largest air museum in the country, after the Smithsonian and the Dayton Airforce Museum, Pima Air and Space sprawls over 80 acres. Visitors get up close and personal with 250 airplanes sitting outdoors preserved by the dry desert air or in four hangars.

From a copy of a Wright Brother’s plane to the sleek supersonic stealth aircraft, from a tiny homemade BumbleBee to the huge spacecraft-carrying "guppy," Pima Air and Space has it all.

My feet complained after walking through the main exhibition building, but help was just outside the door. A train made of old airport luggage trucks was waiting to carry me around the planes for only $3.00. A knowledgeable volunteer driver filled in the holes in my learning about military aircraft. Adults with children will welcome the little red wagons available outside Hangar One for hauling the little ones.

Location: From I-10 take Valencia Road exit and to east two miles.

Hours: Seven days a week except Thanksgiving and Christmas, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Tucked away on the northeast side of Tucson, this once-isolated canyon is now surrounded by civilization. When I get inside this gorgeous oasis, however, I forget that there is a city just over the hill. Hike or bike in, or ride the tram.

The handy, environmentally correct tram stops several times along the way so we can get off and splash in Sabino Creek or have a picnic on a rock. The driver keeps up an amusing patter and lets you in on the legends of the Canyon.

Go early in the morning if you want to watch the sun paint the rocks red and gold. You may even get to share your path with a coyote.

The experienced and well-prepared hiker can set off from here and hike to the top of surrounding mountains, Thanks anyhow, but I will just sit on this rock and listen to the music of the stream.

Directions: Drive north to Sunrise Drive (eastward extension of Ina Road) in Tucson to Sabino Canyon Road. Go north about a block. Parking lot for Sabino Canyon is on the right.

Shuttle: Runs every day, Monday through Friday every hour from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and weekends and holidays every thirty minutes until 4:30 p.m.

Shuttle cost: Adults $6.00; Children 3-12, $2.50

I love the way the soft curves of the white building’s domes stand out against the blue Arizona sky. And I am amazed each time I enter the richly decorated interior of the “Dove of the Desert.” Nothing represents Tucson’s Spanish and Indian heritage better than the San Xavier Mission, just south of downtown. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino founded the mission in 1700 to serve a village of Papago Indians. Untutored, anonymous artists recreated Spanish style with native materials. The structure we visit today survives from the mid-eighteenth century. San Xavier (pronounced ha-veer) is getting a face lift thanks to the generosity of people around the world. The intricately painted interior has been restored to its former brilliant colors. Now work proceeds on the exterior roof and walls. The Tohono O’odham (formerly Papago) still use the church, so visit with reverence. I like to rent an audiotape to explain the details. In a small room behind the museum rooms—to the right of the entrance—I watch a videotape narrated by Linda Ronstadt, a native Tucsonan. Across the parking lot from the church, I stop for Indian fried bread with honey, a favorite treat. Small Native American shops feature silver and turquoise jewelry, pottery and carvings. Location: Take I-19 south from Tucson and turn off at the signed exit for San Xavier. Hours: Every day. You may attend religious services, held almost daily. Admission: Free, but donations welcome.

I drive north of Tucson on Oracle Road, with the towering Santa Catalina Mountains on one side, and a broad valley on the other. Turning off toward the town of Oracle, I always expect to see the glass sides of Biosphere 2 gleaming against the brown desert, but it hides behind cactus-studded hills until I have passed the gatehouse.

After I park and purchase a ticket, I stroll down the path to the orientation building and join a group clustered around a guide. In the auditorium, we watch a film narrated by Alan Alda, as he explains the history of Biosphere 2, so named because Earth is THE Biosphere. This glass structure in the desert was man’s feeble attempt to replicate Earth.

Outside again, I look across to a ride and there it is…the immense dome that encloses seven artificial life zones. Although the original experiment of locking in "biospherians" was not able to sustain life, valuable scientific knowledge was gained. Now Columbia University manages the biosphere as a western campus for environmental studies.

The guide leads us up to the glass, where we peer at a jungle full of banana trees and exotic blossoms, and finally takes us through the air lock into the former living quarters. Where the biospherians grew crops to live on, Columbia is experimenting with the greenhouse effect.

Kids love the variety of computers and other interactive exhibits subtly teaching principles of ecology. I find lots of opportunities for shopping at the Biosphere’s gift shops and end my day with a tasty meal at the Canyon del Oro Restaurant, near the entrance.

Location: Take Rt. 77 (Oracle Road) north out of Tucson to milepost 96.5 and turn right at the Biosphere 2 sign.

Hours: Everyday except Christmas, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tours every 60 minutes.

Admission: Discounts available. Check newspaper for coupons.