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.

 

Visiting Tucson's frontier Army post, Fort Lowell

Remains of Fort Lowell hospital

The adobe remnants of an old 19^th century Army post can still be seen today in Tucson.

The adobe has deteriorated since Fort Lowell was abandoned by the Army in 1891. Remains are covered by open sheds to protect them from the elements.

The fort is located where Tanque Verde and Pantano creeks join to form the Rillito River. The Hohokam tribe had lived there centuries earlier. Fort Lowell replaces an earlier Army installation, Camp Lowell that was located elsewhere in Tucson. The post is named after General Charles R. Lowell who died from wounds suffered at the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Fort Lowell was in active use between 1873 and 1891, and was key in protecting the Tucson area from Apache attacks. The post was a large complex, serving approximately 250 soldiers and officers. It had an extensive hospital, parts of which are standing today.

The Army decommissioned the post in 1891, with Mexican families moving in after that.

The remains today can be seen from behind chain link fences. It’s free to view them, but a museum nearby charges admission. The museum is administered by the Arizona Historical Society. The museum is open only on Fridays and Saturdays, though the grounds are open during the week.

The museum is located at 2900 N. Craycroft Road.

 

 

Tucson toy train museum delights kids of all ages

Gadsden-Pacific Toy Train Museum

Kids of all ages will enjoy a visit to Tucson’s Gadsden-Pacific Division Toy Train Operating Museum. The best way to describe it is “cool.”

 

Seven huge tables are full of miniature towns, factories, oil refineries and mountains, with various types of trains running through them. Each table is devoted to a specific type of miniature train, ranging from N scale (the smallest) to large scale. Outside, there’s a real caboose to see and board.

 

The detail in each table’s contents is incredible. There are tiny people and cars, in period settings designed to complement the era of the train running down the tracks.  Each table has two or more trains running on their own tracks. Overhead, a larger train runs on tracks suspended from the ceiling.

 

Gadsden-Pacific Toy Train Museum

This model railroad museum is very kid-friendly. Plastic stepstools are provided so children can see the displays. Some displays are interactive. Push a red button, and a trolley comes out of a tunnel and moves around the track. Push another button and a dump truck operates in a rock quarry. Outside, a small train carries kids and adults on a ride around the property.

 

The museum is usually open the second and fourth Sundays of the month, but does close during June, July and August. You can call (520) 888-2222 to get their schedule. Admission is free, but donations are accepted, as this is a non-profit museum operated by volunteers.

 

No pun intended, but this fascinating little museum is located off the beaten track in Tucson.  It can be found at 3975 N, Miller Avenue. Take the Prince Road exit off Interstate 10, and then go left on Romero Street. Immediately past the stoplight at Roger Street, make a left turn onto Price Street, which dead ends at Miller. Turn left onto Miller.

History comes to life at Tucson Presidio Museum

Mural at Tucson Presidio Museum

History travels back to the days when the Spanish ruled Tucson when as soldados fire muskets and a cannon, and then walk through downtown Tucson, Arizona.

This happens the second Saturday of every month from October through April when the Tucson Presidio Museum hosts its “living history” days. Volunteers become Spanish soldiers, dressed in blue and white uniforms; other volunteers don costumes as they portray other residents of the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson.

The presidio was founded in Tucson on August 20, 1775, when soldiers stationed at the Tubac Presidio south of Tucson left only a handful of soldiers there and moved the troops north.  These same troops would later travel overland to California and up the Pacific Coast where they founded San Francisco.

Foundation remains

The current “presidio” is a recreation of the original presidio, or fort, that sat on 11 acres of what today is downtown Tucson. The Spanish abandoned it when Tucson came under American rule in 1856. The presidio site was eventually turned into a parking lot and high-rise office buildings. About 10 years ago, a group acquired the parking lot and built an interpretive center on the site; this presidio is owned by the City of Tucson.  A bit of foundation of the original presidio was found under the asphalt.

The presidio museum is open for self-guided tours Wednesday through Sunday. Visitors can see soldiers’’ quarters, the foundry and food storage areas. A small museum is inside the entrance building.

Spanish "soldados" fire muskets

The presidio, however, really shines on living history days. Some volunteers explain what foods the soldiers brought with them from Spain and what foods were available in the New World. Other volunteers bake bread in a domed adobe over, churn butter and make fresh tortillas and pozole, a chili-like stew made from hominy corn instead of beans. All these dishes are available for visitors to sample.

Volunteers at other tables explain items used by the soldiers on a daily basis, such as cards and tobacco tins. Nearby a woman sits at a loom, weaving cloth, while two men sweat away at a foundry, one making nails by hand and the other fashioning a fork. These items can be purchased by visitors.

The piece de resistance is, however, the gun show. Following instructions given in Spanish, the soldiers take aim and fire, with white smoke billowing out of the muskets. A little later, they’ll demonstrate the firing of a brass cannon. The noise is deafening, though an announcer explains the charge was only about a third of what the Spanish really used. The charge used by the volunteers was spiced up, with the addition or oatmeal and powdered coffee creamer to make the blast flash.

Tucson Presidio Museum is located at 133 W. Washington Street, though the address is sometimes given as 197 N. Church Street, perhaps because the presidio is located at the intersection of Church and Washington. Parking is limited in the immediate area and is metered on weekdays. There’s a parking garage across Church Street.

 

 

 

Tucson Mountain Park offers optimum scenery, trails

Tucson Mountain Park

If you’re looking for hiking and mountain biking trails that are close to Tucson look no farther than Tucson Mountain Park. The park is located in southwest Tucson, Arizona,  along a narrow, steep curvy road with many hairpin turns.

If you’ve ever been to Old Tucson, the Arizona Sonora DesertMuseum or Saguaro National Park West, you’ve driven through the 20,000-acre Tucson Mountain Park. There are many turnouts along Gates Pass Road where you can stop to admire the view or take off on a trail.  The trails are rated by difficulty, and range from trails for families with kids, such as those across from Old Tucson, to trails for advanced athletes, such as Brown Mountain.



Pullout at Tucson Mountain Park

All those curves on the road winding through the mountains also make this a popular ride for motorcyclists.

The park offers some of the most scenic views around Tucson, and is open all year-round.  RV and tent campgrounds are available. The scenic route through the park is accessible from Interstate 10. Just take the Speedway Boulevard exit and head south. Speedway turns into Gates Pass Road a few miles down the road.

Tucson Botanical Gardens

Entrance to Tucson Botanical Gardens

Gardeners will delight in a visit to the Tucson Botanical Gardens which offers eight different gardens to thrill the senses of sight and smell.

 The gardens range from aloe alley to cactus and succulents, to herbs, and special gardens for birds, butterflies and kids. The Tohono-Oodham Path recognizes the relationship between Native Americans and the Sonora Desert. Almost all gardeners will find something that suits them to a T here. A miniature railway runs through the gardens; ridership is included in the admission price.

The garden is open daily, except for major holidays. A butterfly gallery is open only during the winter months. The Tucson Botanical Garden is located at  2150 North Alvernon Way.

Tanque Verde swap meet offers outdoor shopping in Tucson

Tanque Verde swap meet

Tanque Verde is a major swap meet in Tucson, drawing between 25,000 and 50,000 shoppers on weekends.

It’s open Friday through Sunday on winter weekends, and Thursdays the rest of the year. It’s been serving Tucson shoppers since 1975.

It’s located on a dirt field north of Interstate 10 in East Tucson. It’s not as big as the Tohono-O’odham swap meet on the other side of the freeway. However, it appears to offer more new and higher quality items than the competition. Women’s and children’s clothing, and shoes are particularly popular.

While you can find quality T-shirts for $2 each, you need to know your prices if you’re after a specific item as it may be cheaper at a traditional storefront business. This also applies to Tohono-O’odham.

Tanque Verde offers live music on weekends. It has a family atmosphere, with pony rides and a carnival for the kids.

The swap meet is located at 4100 S. Palo Verde Road. Take the Palo Verde Road North exit (no , this isn’t a typo) off Interstate 10.

Trail Dust Town: shopping in the 'Old West'

Town square at Trail Dust Town

Trail Dust Town is a small shopping center in east Tucson that is more than an ordinary shopping center. It’s also an entertainment center that features antique modes of transportation. It also caters to evening shoppers and diners since most shops and restaurants open between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Only a couple of restaurants are open for lunch.

Trail Dust Town recreates an Old West town, with prettily painted store and three covered wagons in the brick-paved square.  “Older” buildings can be found on the western perimeter, but the buildings really aren’t any older than the attractively decorated buildings around the square. They were just made to look old and decrepit.

Antique vehicles at Trail Dust Town

What’s neat about Trail Dust Town is that the stagecoaches, wagons and carriages are the real thing. Visitors who come in the daytime can look  over these old horse-drawn vehicles leisurely. Even though the shops and eateries are closed, visitors are free to roam the grounds. In the back is a carousel with original horses and benches; rides are offered at night. A narrow gauge railroad carries visitors around the town and through an old mining tunnel, too. Another popular nighttime activity is a stunt show and staged gunfight.

Trail Dust Town has been a fixture in Tucson since about 1962. It is located at 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road. Also located at Trail Dust Town is the Museum of the Horse Soldier that contains antique saddles, weapons and uniforms.

Tucson Desert Art Musem showcases Southwestern art

Tucson Desert Art Museum

The Tucson Desert Arts Museum is a relatively new museum devoted to preserving the arts of the Southwest.

The small museum has only 25,000 square feet of space, but crams a lot into it, including exhibit space, classrooms and an auditorium. It opened in 2013.

One of the highlights of the museum is its collection of Navajo and Hopi textiles all created before the 1940s. This collection is stunning, particularly since it was done before computers were commonplace. Today, many Native American weavers plan their designs on a computer. We were particularly impressed with one large wall hanging that blended the colors in the pattern in such a way the piece seemed blurry. There’s no need to clean your glasses here, since there’s nothing wrong with them; it’s just optical art.

The museum also has artifacts, including furniture and Native American weapons, on display. The Four Corners Gallery has an outstanding collection of paintings, jewelry and other handcrafts by Southwestern artists on display. Unlike the rest of the museum, everything is for sale in the Four Corners Gallery.

The Tucson Desert Art Museum is located at 7000 E. Tanque Verde Road in Tucson. It is open from 10 .m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Tucson museum honors U.S. horse soldiers

Museum of the Horse Soldier

If you thought the era of horse soldiers ended with Teddy Roosevelt’s charge    up San Juan Hill or even with World War I, you’d be wrong Horses are still be used by the U.S. Army today, as mounts for Special Forces in Afghanistan. This tidbit comes courtesy of Tucson’s Museum of the Horse Soldier.

The museum, which opened in 2013, honors horse soldiers from the Civil War through World War II. It displays original uniforms of both officers and enlisted men, their saddles and their weapons.  Implements used by the men who cared for the horses –veterinarians and farriers – also are displayed. Photographs of the men and their mounts hang prominently on the walls.

Museum of the Horse Soldier

Just insides the entryway is a statue of a horse in a stall. Other horse statues are intermingled with the uniforms in glass cases. The second floor has bronze statues, including one of Custer’s Last Stand, that are miniatures of life-size statues found elsewhere.

The Museum of the Horse Soldier is located at 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson’ (520) 722-2706. It is handicap accessible. Admission is charged, cash only. The museum, located in the Trail Dust Town complex, is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. IF the museum is locked during open hours, as it was when we visited, the manager can usually be found in Trail Dust Town.  

A visit to Tucson's Jewish History Museum

Jewish History Museum

If you gravitate to off-the-beaten path tourist attractions, like we do, then visiting Tucson’s Jewish History Museum is a must.

The museum is housed in the first synagogue built in Arizona. Uneven hardwood floors attest to the age; the building was dedicated in 1910 when an estimated 3,000 Jews were living in Tucson. The museum tells the history of the Jewish population in southern Arizona. Mostly, they were merchants, bankers and miners, though some became active in local politics. Tucson elected its first Jewish mayor in 1880.

The congregation moved into a new synagogue in 1949, and the old one was sold. over the years, 11 different churches called it home. In 1994, the Jewish community bought it back just as it was about to be sold and torn down to make way for a parking lot.

The museum was ranked by USA Today as one of the best places in the United States to learn about Jewish history. In 2012, True West magazine ranked it as the fifth best western museum in the United States.

Holocaust Museum display

The day we visited, they had rearranged the interior to accommodate a special exhibit on Helene Barr, a young French Jewish woman, who like Anne Frank, kept a diary of life under Nazi rule in World War II.

Quilt made by Holocaust survivors

Next door is the Holocaust Museum dedicated to survivors who settled in southern Arizona. One wall of the hallway-like room has small portraits of these survivors, while a video of survivors talking about the Holocaust runs on a television.

The Jewish History Museum is located at 564 South Sixth Avenue in Tucson. It’s open only a few days a week, so travelers should call the museum at (520) 670-9073 to make sure it’s open. Both museums are handicap accessible.

 

 

Tohono Chul features Sonora Desert vegetation

A garden at Tohono Chul Park

Lush greenery isn’t something that is usually associated with southern Arizona, but it’s a term that comes easily to mind at the Tohono Chul botanical garden in west Tucson.

The park brings together the diversity of the Sonora Desert through vegetation, birds, butterflies, arts and education. Outdoor seating areas for classes, concerts and other programs are scattered throughout the 49-acre park. You’ll find bird sculptures sitting in trees and pottery pots arranged in fountains. And always there is the lush vegetation, from vine covered archways to meandering streams to a wide variety of cactus, including some kinds we’d not seen elsewhere in Arizona.

Most of the trails are paved, making this small corner of Tucson handicap-accessible. Benches are plentiful for visitors who just want to sit and enjoy nature, or rest their weary feet.

Wide paved trails accommodate wheelchairs

The land used to be occupied by prehistoric Native Americans. As you walk the trails, be on the lookout for a chunk of petrified wood, determined to be 750 million years old, and a large flat boulder bearing petro graphs. Ancient pottery shards have been found within the park’s boundaries.

The museum’s gift shop, which seems more like an art gallery, is located in an adobe hacienda. The idea for the park was conceived by later owners, Richard and Jean Wilson, who had been buying up snippets of land that were part of the original homestead. They decided to turn it into a park rather than let it be developed. The park was dedicated as a nature preserve in 1985.

Tohono Chul is located just off Ina Road at 7366 N. Paseo del Norte in Tucson. It is closed on major holidays but otherwise open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. There is an admission charge.

More photos of Tohono Cnul are available on my YouTube channel.

Tuscon's Tohono O'odham swap meet sells everything from A to Z

Samples of items for sale

The Tohono-O’odham swap meet is like a gigantic yard sale, a conglomeration of new and used items, ranging from construction materials to clothing to knick knacks and produce. And don’t forget the tools, antiques and just about everything else under the sun.

Buildings, booths and tables are spread over a large area. Some vendors sell from the backs of their pickups and others just lay a blanket on the ground. It can take a couple of hours or more just to walk by all the vendors; that doesn’t include any time for looking through the goods for sale.

The market is geared to Hispanics, but you’ll also find gringos buying stuff, too. Most of the signs are in Spanish. Almost all of the vendors are Hispanic, also, but most speak some English.

The swap meet was started in 1993 by the owner of nearby Chico’s Smoke Shop and his daughter. Located at 5721 S, Westover in Tucson, the swap meet is open from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends.

Tucson parade honors the dead

All Souls Procession

If you’re in Tucson in early November, the All Souls Procession is something you won’t want to miss. It seems more like a Halloween party than an event to honor the dead as thousands of people march a couple of miles through downtown Tucson.

"The 26th All Souls Procession will take 

place on November 7-8 in 2015."

The procession is the finale of two days of activities on Friday and Sunday. Other activities include a Procession of Little Angels and a a family-oriented  Night of the Living Festival with bands, rides, food and games.

The event is similar to Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. It was started in 1990 by a local artist, Susan Johnson, who was grieving the loss of her father. It has grown exponentially since that time.

People, even those not marching in the parade, wear costumes. Face painters do a land-office business on both parade participants and spectators. White faces with eyes staring out of black circles are common, but each painted face is unique.

  At the parades start, a man with a loudspeaker stands behind a large white banner belting out a hell, fire and brimstone sermon, beseeching people to repent their sins before it is too late.

Parade participants

A cacophony of sounds fills the air, as bagpipers compete with drum and mariachi bands.

Sidewalk standing space is at a premium, as spectators spill out into the street. An estimated 100,000 people watched this year’s procession, which ended with burning a large urn filled with messages to loved ones who have passed.

Arizona's Ted DeGrazia: a multi-talented artist

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun

Ted DeGrazia was a multi-talented artist who is best known for bringing the native cultures of the Sonora Desert to life. Besides working in oils, he also was a sculptor, worked in ceramics, designed his own adobe house in rural Tucson, did the landscaping for it, and created wind chimes using such diverse materials as horseshoes. He also turned aluminum and tin cans into whimsical flowers that today adorn posts at the gallery he built next to his house.

DeGrazia also was a talented trumpeter, paying his way through college by playing in a band. He also composed music, some of which can be heard playing in the gift shop at his gallery.

He also was a prolific artist. The DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun has three collections of his paintings that are rotated throughout the year. These are in addition to the paintings he sold or burned. Yes, burned. As a protest against an Arizona inheritance tax on art, he burned 100 of his paintings that had a combined value of $250,000. This was in 1976.

Whimsical can art

DeGrazia was born in 1909 in an Arizona mining camp where his father worked. His Italian immigrant parents named him Ettore; the nickname Ted was bestowed upon him by a teacher. He spent a few years living in Italy as a child, but returned to Arizona with his family when the mining camp reopened.

He studied art at the University of Arizona and did an internship with the famed Mexican artist, Diego Rivera.

His paintings are simplistic, perhaps because he used a palette knife, instead of a brush, to paint in oils. Children are featured prominently; some are playful while others seem ethereal, even religious tones. One unique feature common to his paintings is they have no background, other than perhaps a few swirls of muted color. A video showing the artist at work says he did this on purpose, because he wanted the viewer to create his own background.

DeGrazia died in 1982. His Gallery in the Sun is located in the Tucson foothills at 6300 N. Swan Road. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but is closed major holidays. Admission is free.e also turned alumin

Tucson museum is a small, small world

A miniature village in the floor

It’s a small world.

If you don’t believe it, you need to visit the Mini-Time Machine Museum of Miniatures in Tucson. It’s a wonderland filled with miniature homes, furnishings, people, animals, etc., all designed to tempt your imagination,

The Array of miniatures is impressive, from houses to castles to a floating market in Thailand. Videos located throughout the museum offer information on everything from the history of miniatures to how to make mini silver tea sets.

Some of the miniatures have movable parts, such as trains going around a track. Some even have people waltzing on the balcony, such as the Wick House, made in the 1880s, that is typical of a Swiss house in the early 1800s. The multi-story house features workers on the bottom floor, soldiers enjoying a beer on the second floor and waltzers on the third floor, all moving at the same time.  The figures in the house are not moving today, but a video shows the mechanical figures in motion. The video shows a complicated system of pulleys, axles, wires, etc., that make the figures move.

A room in a miniature home

The museum has more than 275 houses, each completely furnished for the time period it is supposed to represent. They may look like doll houses, but no little girl would be allowed to play with them. These valuable houses are exquisitely done, and provide a most interesting peak into the past. And don’t forget the Enchanted Realm which displays miniature exhibits representing both fiction and folklore.

The miniature museum is located at 4455 East Camp Lowell Drive in Tucson. It is closed Mondays and major holidays.

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.