Wonderful historical archeology park. Land of the Salado native people. So informative and…read moreinspiring to walk through the ruins and absorb the information on the museum. What a magnificent magical (not to mention humbling) experience.

A nice archeological site that's a nice stop if you're in the area or you're interested in ancient…read moreArizona cultures. It's affordable and consists of a small museum with pottery and other artifacts, outdoor ruins from an old Salado pueblo (self-guided), and a small gift shop. There is a film you can watch at the beginning of your visit to better understand the site. Decent-size parking lot, and it's unlikely you'll be sharing the site with too many other visitors. It was fairly empty when we went on a Saturday afternoon. I like how they incorporated cacti and other elements of Arizona landscapes into the ruins. A lot of the ruins aren't accessible and can only be viewed from behind metal fencing. I fully understand wanting visitors off the ruins but wish the site had adopted more aesthetically-pleasing solutions than metal wire fencing.

Lots of history!…read more Laid out well with dioramas too! The volunteers know their stuff. Very enjoyable and takes a few visits to really get to see it all!

Don't be surprised it's not a school it is a museum. The volunteer docent walked right out of the…read moredoor and greeted us inside. Unfortunately the place was about to close in five minutes. She was so accommodating and told us "Take your time, I'll stay open a little later for you." My husband and I raced the museum in about 30 minutes. There is so much to see so plan on a few hours. Every corridor and room surprises you with exhibit after exhibit. You can learn about mining, Elected Officials, Mexicans, the San Carlos Apaches, Serbians that migrated from Montenegro. The list can go on, and on. For me personally, I loved stepping into the past of the old school house. School buildings are just not made that way anymore. The plan is to finish the rehabilitation of the building and expand more exhibits on the second floor. The have a lecture series about Women and Mining coming up. It's not often you get to learn about the roles women have taken that are typically male centered jobs. This place is humble and not fancy like some museums I feel it's a perfect reflection of the community. You will learn so much about the local areas history and traditions.

According to personnel at the Globe Arts center, this has been closed for months. Contrary to their…read morewebsite and Yelp, it was closed on Monday when we went there.

This Cultural Center is certainly well worth the short drive from Globe, AZ. The interpretive signs…read moreare very well done, educational and informative. But a big draw, for anyone who enjoys Native arts and crafts, is the gift store which is stocked with traditional arts and has something for everyone, especially jewelry made with peridot. The staff is very friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable, too. Excellent job!

We did the Upper Dwelling hike. Took way too long (we could have completed it round trip in an hour…read moreor so) but it took almost 3. We are still fortunate to have gotten a reservation, and did enjoy the exclusive access. One interesting thing, is that the guides refused to answer if human remains had ever been found in the park, saying they weren't. After researching at home, they have, according to this 2014 register published by the National Monument themselves: [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-14644; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]. Don't know why they didn't want to talk about it. Also, the guide said Navajo Nation capital is in Shiprock, NM, but it's in Window Rock, AZ.

A great stop to make when out in the area. We did the lower dwelling as we didn't have a…read morereservation for the upper. I would say if you only plan to do the lower dwelling I wouldn't recommend going super out of the way for this as it's a pretty quick stop. The hike up wasn't bad, but my husband and I are active. It was really interesting being able to get so close to history, and the views from up there are amazing! This has been on my bucket list for awhile and I'm glad I finally get to check it off.

The Superstition Mountain Lost Dutchman Museum, is set on a 15-acre parcel in the shadow of the…read morebeautiful Superstition Mountains. The museum, itself, showcases the Apache origins of the land while the outbuildings include what remains of the Apacheland Movie Ranch (it largely suffered in a fire in 2004), a working 20-stamp gold mill, the chapel Elvis filmed "Charro!" in, the Apacheland barn, a historical model railroad, Western storefronts, a gift shop/bookstore, and a labeled nature trail. Things of note The Apacheland Barn houses a number of horse-drawn buggies and carts used in 17 television series, 29 full-length feature films, and hundreds of commercials filmed on the site. The buildings scattered around the land include a few Old West scenes and full-size dioramas, complete with plenty of mannequins depicting the scenes. The "crown jewel" is the "Elvis Chapel" - a mini-museum and wedding chapel dedicated to "the King" and his unique western movie, "Charro!" also filmed on site. It is a GREAT way to spend a couple of hours!

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, but my son and I are on spring break and I have to keep…read morethis 4 year old busy! I learned several things here... 1) it's a bit of a hike, which I wasn't prepared for 2) Always carry water in your purse (I didn't) 3) carry tweezers and bandaids (splinters happened) 4) these volunteers were the most knowledgeable and friendliest people I have ever met 5) Elvis Presley spent time in AJ. I think it is definitely worth the trip out and it was interesting enough, until my son strayed from the path and a cholla stung him. I took several photos. It was a gorgeous day in March.

One of the great aspects to life in the desert are all the cute quirky small towns that are a few…read morehours outside the big city. The Bob Jones Museum run by the Superior Historical Society is an excellent example of this. It is the former house of an early governor of Arizona filled with local memorabilia that really gives you a perspective about life in an Arizona copper mining town. I was the only visitor during a Saturday afternoon and the volunteer very warmly told me about his town. This museum is a great excuse for a short road trip, be sure to call ahead of time to make sure they are open. Oh, and the cool Apache Tear stones on sale for 25 cents are probably the best tourist bargain I have seen in Arizona.

Great place to visit lots of local history and old photos on display. Not sure of there hours…read moreusually open when they have events on main street

The Show Low Historical Society Museum was a great place to start our trip in Show Low with our two…read moreyoung kids. The building is much larger than it looks from the outside, including something like 17 rooms that are all themed to different topics. They have a wonderful miniature train room, and if the conductor is there, he can give you the full breakdown and history of the whole set up. All the volunteers working there were super nice, it is free to get in with donation as an option. We will be back when our kids are older and we can thoroughly spend time in each room.

This museum is fantastic! Each room is dedicated to a specific pioneer family or a period in the…read morepast history of the region. Because this is a small mountain city, there are many local families whose roots go back to the founding pioneers of the region. I was raised by my grandmother for most of my childhood and her farmhouse dated into the late 1800s so I was amazed to see many of the household items and tools that had also graced her home. One can easily spend hours at this museum, which whenever possible includes written placards telling you about the use of the item and the family that had originally had the item. It is definitely a place to take the whole family and it is not only entertaining but very educational.

In the late 1800s, the Biosphere 2 property was part of the Samaniego CDO Ranch, which grew as the…read moretown of Oracle did. Nearly 50 years later, the ranch was sold to a Canadian dentist who then ran it as both a cattle farm and hunting lodge, from the 1920s - 1950s. When he passed, it was sold to Lady Margaret, Countess of Suffolk, who built a Spanish-style adobe home, servants' quarters, and a pool on the property. She lived there until her death in 1968 after which Motorola purchased the property and built both casitas and a conference center. In 1984, Space Biospheres Ventures bought the property and began construction of the current $150m facility two years later, aimed at research and development of self-sustaining space-colonization technology. It included forests, deserts, laboratories, recycling systems, pigs, chickens, hummingbirds, bush babies, and even a coral reef. The University of Arizona assumed it in 2011 and is still used as a major scientific laboratory and educational center focused on global ecology, climate change, and earth sciences. What It's Famous For If you remember the movie Bio Dome (though not filmed at the Biosphere 2) then you know the premise of what happened within Biosphere 2. Two missions, between 1991 and 1994, sealed "Biospherians" inside the glass enclosure to measure survivability. Unfortunately, low oxygen levels, coupled with dwindling food supply and a bit of hysteria, ended both experiments early. To read first-hand accounts of what it was like, click here. Is It Worth Touring? It was actually a good way to spend an hour! We toured the various areas within the domes, explored some of the outside areas, and learned a lot more about the work being done today!

We had gotten some recommendations for Tucson attractions and restaurants from a former resident…read more One such was Biosphere 2. I vaguely recalled that this place existed in the 1990s (based on news coverage) but I didn't recall what had happened to it. It seemed to become a sort of cultural joke, and I think they even made some comedy on the general topic. After researching it a bit, it seemed worth checking out. The site is located about 45 minutes north of Tucson. You drive through the outer suburbs and then a small town or two to get there. The original idea was a self-contained, sealed site where human survival for space-related missions could be simulated. After that phase ended, the facility had passed through other university ownership, but is now managed by the University of Arizona. The philosophy now seems to be 'we have this expensive facility that would be hard to replicate - how can we make good use of it and maybe generate some income?'. The answers are to conduct large scale research in some areas, utilize it for associated degree programs in things like life sciences, and to open at least major parts of it for public tour access. You enter via a gated road and park at the visitors' center. There you either buy tickets or check in if you purchased them beforehand online. In addition to the standard tour, they offer some add-on more in-depth tours of some areas, but we did not sign up (or pay extra) for these. After check in, you walk along a paved path above the rest of the original complex. Then you arrive at the point where you descend to the buildings themselves. These are a series of interconnected super-sized greenhouses, basically. Each one has some variant of an ecosystem inside - desert, tropical rainforest, ocean, etc. The walking tour is well-marked as you follow large arrows around the complex, through doors, within the buildings, etc. There is a phone app that you download at the start (which is important, as there is almost no signal once you reach the complex) which plays numbered video segments on your phone as you progress through various stations. It actually takes a while to first enter the sort of enclosed environment I was picturing, but once you get there it continues in that way from pod to pod. I think the entire walk took us around 90 minutes or so, but you could linger more. This spot isn't probably something that absolutely everyone would be interested in, but I liked it. It is certainly unique - you're unlikely to find something similar or of this scale in many other places. I thought it was well worth a visit while we were in the area. If you're at all inclined towards an interest in science, you'll probably enjoy it.