Tucson!

[texbike]

Greetings Fellow Paceliners! Hope everyone is doing great!

We're FINALLY making it to Tucson in the next few weeks for an actual vacation there. We've driven through a few times in the past on the way to places further West but that's been it. I'm excited to spend time in the city and enjoy the hiking and biking options nearby.

I've looked through multiple, older threads and there's a ton of great info (thank you!). I've also looked at the El Tour de Tucson webpage to gain some ride suggestions.

Outside of the riding recommendations, do you guys have any suggestions for non bike-related MUST SEE things around Tucson and also hikes in the area? Also, if you were to stay in Tucson for a vacation, where would you stay? We currently have a place booked in the Catalina foothills, but open to other places. The goal would be easy access to cycling and having a nice walkable area to spend time in outside of the car.

Thanks!

Texbike

[bigbill]

Saguaro NP East has an 8-mile paved loop crisscrossed with hiking trails and trailheads. One-stop shopping, park at the picnic area, and ride/hike.

Catalina State Park has great hiking trails. You can park at the horse corrals or in a day-use campground and leave from there. Both places have water. Catalina has a lot of equestrians, so remember that hikers yield to horses. We had a "Karen" experience about two years ago when a hiker blocked the trail because she believed she had the right of way. The hiking is spectacular, especially the hilltops.

[eddief]

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coro...a/?recid=75425
https://friendsofaguacaliente.org/

[djg21]

The Sonora Desert Museum is awesome. Go early before it gets hot to see the animals when they are more active, and attend a raptor show. Plan on spending 3-4 hours at a minimum. https://www.desertmuseum.org/.

If you have a day to ride gravel, I’m really high on Patagonia right now. The gravel riding is great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4uS30nILY. It’s not far from Tucson, but it’s a day trip.

You can ride from Tucson if you’re ambitious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUOhZTrajSI

Or drive down and rent gravel bikes. https://www.patagoniabikesaz.com/

v=NUOhZTrajSI&themeRefresh=1A

[Nickt]

subscribed here since I'm looking for similar intel

[weisan]

No way! Tex pal, that's where we will be heading too during Spring Break with three of my knuckleheads. Maybe we can meet up and do a hike together.

[RFC]

The Desert Museum for sure. To small to make the top 10 list of zoos but always an honorable mention.

Hike Sabino Canyon -- 9 mile round trip to the falls. Gets you into the dry pine mountain environment. There are several stream crossings that are fun.

Take a drive up Mount Lemon. A great winding road through the pines up the mountain. A total blast in my 96 SL500.

Just short of the top you will go through a small vacation home area. There is beer and burger place with an open patio. Sunglasses at lunch. I love it!

And, for artistic interest, you can see the famous de Kooning painting that was stolen 30 years and recently showed up at an estate sale.

This is a fascinating story if you can get past the paywall.

https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/n...re/7359559001/

Also here:

https://www.getty.edu/news/long-lost...e-since-theft/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...ing-180979787/

[GregL]

I’m a big fan of the Pima Air & Space Museum. Lots of great exhibits inside and out. Bring comfy walking shoes; the outside exhibits cover quite a few acres.

Greg

[texbike]

Originally Posted by bigbill

Saguaro NP East has an 8-mile paved loop crisscrossed with hiking trails and trailheads. One-stop shopping, park at the picnic area, and ride/hike.

Catalina State Park has great hiking trails. You can park at the horse corrals or in a day-use campground and leave from there. Both places have water. Catalina has a lot of equestrians, so remember that hikers yield to horses. We had a "Karen" experience about two years ago when a hiker blocked the trail because she believed she had the right of way. The hiking is spectacular, especially the hilltops.

Originally Posted by eddief

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coro...a/?recid=75425
https://friendsofaguacaliente.org/

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

imho you won't find a better location in all of Tucson...but I'm biased: I live in the Catalina Foothills

...but I haven't lived here long enough to get a handle on what all the "MUST SEE" things are off the bike. Reid Park Zoo and/or Desert Museum?

Hiking (or just driving) in Sabino Canyon and Saguaro National Park East are at the top of our list for What To Show Out-Of-Towners When They Visit, and depending on where in the Foothills you are you may already be walking distance from Sabino.

Originally Posted by eddief

One of the wonder of the world. Worth the drive = 50 minutes from Tucson:

https://azstateparks.com/kartchner
https://www.google.com/search?sca_es...h=621&dpr=1.35

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

I try to stay close to Tumerico. It is central and easy in and out of Tucson.

Originally Posted by glepore

Go try to hang on to the Shootout.

Originally Posted by djg21

The Sonora Desert Museum is awesome. Go early before it gets hot to see the animals when they are more active, and attend a raptor show. Plan on spending 3-4 hours at a minimum. https://www.desertmuseum.org/.

If you have a day to ride gravel, I’m really high on Patagonia right now. The gravel riding is great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4uS30nILY. It’s not far from Tucson, but it’s a day trip.

You can ride from Tucson if you’re ambitious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUOhZTrajSI

Or drive down and rent gravel bikes. https://www.patagoniabikesaz.com/

v=NUOhZTrajSI&themeRefresh=1A

Originally Posted by RFC

The Desert Museum for sure. To small to make the top 10 list of zoos but always an honorable mention.

Hike Sabino Canyon -- 9 mile round trip to the falls. Gets you into the dry pine mountain environment. There are several stream crossings that are fun.

Take a drive up Mount Lemon. A great winding road through the pines up the mountain. A total blast in my 96 SL500.

Just short of the top you will go through a small vacation home area. There is beer and burger place with an open patio. Sunglasses at lunch. I love it!

And, for artistic interest, you can see the famous de Kooning painting that was stolen 30 years and recently showed up at an estate sale.

This is a fascinating story if you can get past the paywall.

https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/n...re/7359559001/

Also here:

https://www.getty.edu/news/long-lost...e-since-theft/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...ing-180979787/

Originally Posted by GregL

I’m a big fan of the Pima Air & Space Museum. Lots of great exhibits inside and out. Bring comfy walking shoes; the outside exhibits cover quite a few acres.

Greg

These are all fantastic suggestions! Thanks everyone!!!

And Bigbill, we'll definitely NOT be the Karens. Both my wife and daughter ride regularly (my daughter competitively) so we're very respectful of horses on trails. We hadn't actually discussed the possibility of them riding while we're there, but that's another option to add to the list.

Originally Posted by weisan

No way! Tex pal, that's where we will be heading too during Spring Break with three of my knuckleheads. Maybe we can meet up and do a hike together.

Wei, that's awesome! I think I still have your cell. I'll send you a text to connect and see what days you guys are going to be there. It would be great to get together!

Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Please keep them coming. Tucson has been on my list of places to visit for at least 20 years. Usually, I'm flying over or driving through on the way to somewhere else. It'll be cool to spend some time in the area

Texbike

[RFC]

I neglected to mention Biosphere II, a wonderfully quirky scientific and social experiment on a grand scale. Read the history before you go.

[Likes2ridefar]

Might I suggest don’t forget out about phoenix. Much larger so you’ll have a lot variety of places to stay and eat and many more activities. It is also easier to do day trips to Sedona, Grand Canyon, flagstaff, mogollon rim, or Prescott areas. I’m more familiar with it but for riding trips there may be more options if you like mtb and gravel.

To just begin…On the eastern side we have McDowell mtn park for easy mtb or fun gravel bike, Hawes for intermediate to more advanced mtb, browns ranch for easier mtb and gravel bike, cave creek cactus race loop for mtb, canals and paths all over and outside the city for riding with family.

[RoosterCogset]

Tombstone! They even named a pizza after it.

[bigbill]

Weisan,
You should get the 15-year-old interested in the Naval Academy if she wants to fly. It won't cost you a dime; we will all pay for it. The academies sometimes struggle to get enough female applicants. No college debt, advanced flight training if she qualifies, and four years of not worrying about what to wear each day. My son graduated in 2022 and is more than a year into flight school.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by bigbill

Weisan,
You should get the 15-year-old interested in the Naval Academy if she wants to fly. It won't cost you a dime; we will all pay for it. The academies sometimes struggle to get enough female applicants. No college debt, advanced flight training if she qualifies, and four years of not worrying about what to wear each day. My son graduated in 2022 and is more than a year into flight school.

bill pal, I agree with you COMPLETELY...

This is her older sister.

[texbike]

Wei, I'm sorry that we missed each other while out there. We just made it back in last night. Interestingly, it looks like we hit a number of the same places - El Presidio/downtown/Barrio Viejo, Mt. Lemmon, and the Saguaro NP East Loop.

I'll post some pics as soon as I figure out how to do it from my iphone.

Thanks to everyone that provided suggestions! Somehow we managed to miss a good portion of them - there was just so much to do. We did hikes each day (Catalina State Park, Pima Canyon, Sabino Canyon, Ventana Canyon, and Bear Wallow), hung out by the pool a bit, explored the areas downtown, and around UofA. Managed to get early morning rides in - Oro Valley (meh - too much traffic), up to the top of the Sabino Canyon road and back down (fun!), and then the Saguaro NP East Loop (wow!). We stayed at the Westward Look that sits between the Catalina Foothills and Oro Valley. From a cycling perspective, it probably wasn't the best spot to be as it required riding on Ina Road if I was going to ride out the door and not drive to a place to start from.

We LOVED Tucson. The outdoors access is fantastic, the food was great (Tumerico especially!), everyone that we spoke with was incredibly friendly, and the downtown cultural options were fun. What a great town! One interesting thing that both my wife and I noticed was the lack of highway systems throughout town like we have in Austin and other Texas cities. It seemed like other than I-10, everything was just a surface street. It was cool to see a mountain in the distance no matter which street you looked down.

We'll definitely be going back. Again, thanks for all of the suggestions - our Paceline community is the best!!!

Texbike