To be up in the clouds is truly the most marvelous thing. I rummaged these photos from Google…read morePhotos and I can still remember this memory. I was traveling in Tucson, Arizona and my team's idea of a day off is absolutely playing tourist so my co-workers and I took the scenic route up to Mount Lemmon and this was the breath taking view. Arizona will always have my heart for the scenic views, gorgeous mountains, and for the really tall cacti!!!

I visited this vista point along Mt. Lemmon late April. It was a Friday evening with a few folks…read morebut it wasn't as crowded as I expected for the most popular sunset spot when it comes to Mt Lemmon. There was plenty of parking available. Can't go wrong with a Tucson sunset view!

This Museum is FREE! For such a small space it has much to offer. Stop in and take a look!read more

Unexpected stop while headed to the library. The staff is friendly. It is well laid out and…read morefascinating to read. There is lots of items to see. Definitely recommend.

This place was listed among Tucson's unique attractions, and it was a relatively short drive so we…read moreadded it to our itinerary. The site is less than 15 minutes south of downtown via a couple of interstates. Once you exit it is probably only a mile or so. The mission complex is located on a tribal reservation. You turn off the paved road to a large field of dirt and gravel in front of the mission. The center part of this is given over to semi-shaded stalls for vendors - food like fry bread, etc. Parking is along the sides. When we visited, the facade was partly covered with construction scaffolding, but this was wrapped with tarps that reflected the building beneath it. So you could still get a good idea of how it would look uncovered. Inside, there is the main church on the left (as you face it). This is actively used, so be quiet / respectful. Passing through there (or entering separately on the right) there are several smaller connected rooms that have displays about the history of the building and the local area. In back is a courtyard with a fountain. I'm not sure the public has access to this, but you can view it from a shaded arcade. If you like historic buildings or old missions in particular, this is an easy stop within the Tucson area. And the fry bread we got as we left the parking lot was good too!

Definitely come by to see this historic location. We came early but some…read moreFood venders were setting up, kinda sad we missed that! The front part of the building is under construction currently but you can still view inside. If you arrive early before they open doors, go around the right side, there is a gift shop that opens early as well. There are also bathrooms on the left side.

Historic Hispanic theatre that was/is neglected by Tucson…read more From 1913 to 1923, the Teatro Carmen lined with professional touring companies from Europe and Mexico, it included variety shows, musical performances, operas, and plays. Later it was a dance hall, brothel, a garage, and a boxing ring. Hey, here's an idea Tucson, tear it down!

Empire Ranch (located within Las Cienegas Conservation Area) is a direct look into early life of a…read morerancher in Arizona. The buildings with the displays from the early era are informative and interesting. You can almost feel what it was like to live on the Ranch. The area is beautiful with trails and wildlife to view especially birders.

Nice old place to see and it's not that far from Tucson only about 1hr drive. Something to do on a…read morelazy Saturday afternoon. Free entrance and pets are allowed. We will definitely see this place again!

The Boneyard aka the 309th Aerospace Maintenance Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility is on the…read moreDavis - Monthan Air Force Base. Tours require advance reservation and security clearance. Consult the web site for details at least 10 business days in advance of your visit. The tour is by motor coach with docent on board to provide narration. The tour last about 1 1/2 hours and leaves from the Pima Air & Space Museum. Security is strict and ID's are checked three times. Currently the facility is home to 4,000 aircraft from various military agencies. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Overall the tour was interesting and informative. It takes a little time to enter the base due to security check so be patient.

You have to reserve this in advance to get back ground check and clearance. It's so worth it. Bus…read moretour around one hour forty-five minutes. Most of the airplanes are no longer running. They use them for parts. Some could be ready to take off in 24 hours. The volunteers (retired military) are your guides and know everything about the planes. Might get boring to kids after awhile. If you like planes this is a perfect tour to pair with the Pima museum. Fun day!

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.

We enjoyed our tour of the Titan II Missile museum and silo. Our guide, Seth, was knowledgeable,…read morefriendly AND funny! He made it an interactive, fun experience. Kind of scary to know that back in the day we could launch a missile in 58 seconds... and you can't stop it once it's gone! Put this on your list of things to do in Tucson for sure!

We thoroughly enjoyed this museum, especially the knowledgeable guides, interactive displays and…read morerich cold war history. There is so much to see and do here, plan on 90 minutes at least. You definitely should consider pre-purchasing your tickets for the tour undergroun early so you have more choices of the time that you do it. They will sell out most days. There isn't much to do here besides that tour, so plan accordingly. This was really fun and educational, would highly recommend for anyone school aged and up.