Cheryl's top 10 list of Tucson attractions

Tucson has so many interesting things to see and do, it's difficult to cram them ll into a few days' visit. We stayed in Tucson for seven months, which gave us plenty of time to see its attractions, but we still didn't see everything the city has to offer.

Over the months, we visited dozens of attractions in and around the city. Picking out my favorites was a tough job, with strong competition coming from places such as Saguaro National Park, Rillito Farmers Market, Tohono Chul  and Arizona History Museum. Here’s a list of my top 10 favorite places to visit:

10. Pancho Villa statue: This impressive statue, located in a park in downtown Tucson, was controversial when it was given to the people of Arizona by the president of Mexico. Why? Because in the early 20^th century, Pancho Villa was the only person to invade the United States and kill its citizens since the War of 1812.

9. Mt. Lemmon scenicdrive: When temperatures in Tucson get too hot, pack a picnic lunch and head up to Mt. Lemmon for stunning views of Tucson and miles beyond. The journey takes motorists through four ecosystems, from the deserts of Mexico to the pines of Canada. In the winter, it's southern Arizona's only ski area.

8. DeGrazia Gallery inthe Sun: Ted De Grazia was a multi-talented artist who worked with paints, clay, and even aluminum cans, He also was temperamental, once burning $250,000 worth of his paintings in a protest against inheritance tax laws.

7.Jewish History Museum: This small museum, located in Tucson's first synagogue, is considered one of the best Jewish history museums in the United States. One section is devoted to Tucson residents who survived the Holocaust.

6. Tucson PresidioMuseum: The museum stands on a portion of the original presidio where Tucson was founded in 1775. It's the place to be on the second Saturday of winter months for those who want to see "Spanish" soldiers fire muskets and sample fresh made tortillas cooked the old fashioned way.

5. Frost: Locations throughout Tucson serve up sinfully delicious gelatos that have fewer calories and fat than regular ice cream. This is where Tucson residents get their ice cream fix. We especially liked their store at Encantada Shopping mall, which is possibly one of the prettiest malls you’ll ever visit.

4. Mission San Xavierdel Bac: This centuries' old graceful white church is one of Tucson's icons, calling out to travelers along Interstate 19.

3. Pima Air & SpaceMuseum:  The largest private aircraft museum in the United States. It contains mostly military planes, with the space gallery containing a moon rock.

2. Old Tucson: Old Tucson is both a theme park and a movie studio, since more than 300 Western movies and TV shows were filmed here, ranging from McClintok! to Little House on the Prairie. We liked it so much, we went twice!

1. Arizona Sonora DesertMuseum: Perhaps Tucson's top-rated tourist attraction, and one of the world's top outdoor museums. With more than 40 acres of trails leading through the Sonora Desert, the museum is both a botanical garden and zoo.

 

Old Tucson: where the West was filmed

Ricky "the Colorado Kid" Nelson drove
cattle down this street in Rio Bravo.

If you’re a fan of Western movies, you’re going to love Old Tucson, a movie studio and theme park, as more than 300 Western movies and television shows were filmed here. Over the decades, some of filmdom’s biggest names have walked the dusty streets: John Wayne, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Michael Landon, Audie Murphy, Randolph Scott, James Stewart and Maureen O’Hara to name a few. Even today, the streets ring out with gunfire as staff re-enacts gunfights for visitors.

Re-enactment of a gun fight
between bank robbers

This is one attraction you’ll want to be there when the gates open and plan on staying until closing time. Even then you may not be able to take everything in. Programs allowing visitors to experience the Old West take place every 30 to 45 minutes during open hours. Besides gunfights, there’s can-can dancing at the Grand Palace Saloon, a man hawking his magical miracle elixir and a chance to learn about sheriffs from the days of yore, to name a few presentations.

The best way to start your visit here is with a free guided tour; your guide will walk you through the streets pointing out buildings that were featured in specific movies. You’ll learn such trivia as the night the wedding scene was shot for 1993’s Tombstone, the temperature was 92 degrees outside, yet Kurt Russell (Wyatt Earp) and Dana Delany (Josephine Marcus) were dancing in the snow. The “snow” was plastic.

Old Tucson got its start in 1939 with the Columbia Pictures’ filming of Arizona starring Jean Arthur and William Holden; 50  buildings simulating 1860s Tucson went up in 40 days.  A few more movies were made here over the next two decades, but it wasn’t until 1960 that Western movie making began here in earnest. More buildings were added for each movie, but tragedy struck in 1995 when an arson fire did $10 million in damages. Movie-making continued as replacement buildings went up.

John Wayne rules at Old Tucson. There’s McClintock! Mercantile, Big Jake’s BBQ, and you can see a 20-minute documentary on his association with Old Tucson down at Rosa’s Cantina. It’s almost as if the Duke were elevated to sainthood or, at the very least, crowned king of the Western movies. Wayne made 118 Western movies during his acting career, including four at Old Tucson: Rio Bravo, Rio Lobo, McClintock! and El Dorado.

One building was featured in the original 3:10 to Yuma, starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. Today, it houses the theme park’s movie museum and contains posters of movies shot here, costumes, news clippings and other Western movie memorabilia. A few non-Westerns, such as The Bells of St. Mary’s and Lilies of the Field also were shot here. One of the biggest shirts you may ever see is on display. It was worn by Dan Blocker who played Hoss Cartwright in Bonanza, one of the TV westerns that shot here a few times. In the same display case is a smaller shirt that was worn by Ben ‘Pa” Cartwright, who was played by Lorne Greene.

This building was used in McClintock!

Sets are often changed for each movie, so the buildings don’t look the same. The building that is now McClintock! Mercantile was once a barn. A porch was added for the filming of McClintock! Sometimes buildings are painted and others get new signs identifying the business within.

When your feet get tired, it’s time to hop a stage for a ride out to High Chaparral, the setting for a Western television series that was filmed here from 1966 to 1971.  Other TV series that were filmed her include Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza, Death Valley Days and Petrocelli. The Food Network even filmed five programs for one of its series.

Chinese Alley

Take time to wander off the man streets. You’ll be surprised at what you find: Chinese Alley: a narrow alley filled with laundry hung between the buildings; a miner’s sluice box where you can pan for gold and keep what you find, or a store selling produce.

More pictures of Old Tucson: where the West wasfilmed can be found on my Youtube channel.

Old Tucson is located at 201 S. Kinney Road in rural Tucson. It can be reached from I-19 by taking exit 99 west on Ajo Way and following the signs. A more scenic route is to take the Speedway exit off I-10 and high south through Tucson Mountain Park. Movies and TV shows are still filmed at Old Tucson; it remains open to the public when filming is taking place.

Old Tucson is closed during the summer months, and open Friday through Sunday during the fall months.

 

The fine print; The FTC requires me to tell you I received complementary admission to Old Tucson because I was researching for several travel articles. It's such a great place, we plan to return -- as paying customers.