Recently, I took two weeks to go on a road trip through the state of Arizona.
Traveling, or not traveling, right now is a very personal decision and one that I did not take lightly. My friend and I agreed on some important things ahead of time - we would not be doing any indoor dining, museums, bars, etc.
Some nights, eating outside in November was more comfortable than others (plot twist: Arizona isn’t always warm). Some nights we cooked in our Airbnbs. If we encountered people without masks, even outdoors, we distanced ourselves from the situation.
I will mention things throughout these Arizona city guides in regards to how certain areas, restaurants, etc. handled coronavirus protocols.
But our overall goal for the trip was to hike, run, and generally spend time outside - alone. This was not the trip for trying all of Arizona’s restaurants and bars and museums and this guide reflects that.
You can read about our first stop, Phoenix & The Superstition Mountains here!
Stop #2 was Tucson and Saguaro National Park.
TUCSON
WHERE WE STAYED
The El Pais Motel and Campground was one of the quirkiest places I’ve ever been. When booking the “Gypsy” Tiny Home on Airbnb, I had no idea it was part of a larger complex. So while I was initially confused by this side of the highway address as we drove into Tucson, I was ultimately charmed by the amenities and vibes. I mean, pulling in, the palm trees had googly eyes!
El Pais Motel and Campground features a pool (not heated, so only open during the summer months), and outdoor kitchen and seating area, and a “Clubhouse” filled with an eclectic assortment of random vintage pieces. In non-COVID times, I can see this being an awesome spot to meet and hang out with fellow travelers!
The tiny home itself felt anything but cramped - we found it much more livable and spacious feeling than our Phoenix Airstream (a bonus is that the bathroom actually had a door…)
We may have had a good laugh at the Airbnb listing’s professional photos of the cleaning process - picture portrait mode close-ups of Lysol bottles and rubber gloves - but really, we appreciated knowing the space was clean!
WHAT WE ATE
SEIS KITCHEN AT MERCADO SAN AUGUSTIN
130 SOUTH AVENIDA DEL CONVENTO #130 | TUCSON, AZ
We really enjoyed our post-trail-run dinner from Seis Kitchen in the Mercado San Augustin outdoor dining area.
The Mercado San Augustin is a Chelsea Market-esque spot with different dining and shopping outlets. By the time we arrived, everything but the restaurants were closed for the day, but if we’d had more time I definitely would have returned to browse stores like Mast!
Dinner from Seis was a pleasant surprise - for counter service Mexican food it was super fresh, flavorful and the portions were very generous.
I felt like a bad New Yorker, but the desert’s dry 50 degrees had me cozied up really close to the heater.
CIELOS AT LODGE ON THE DESERT
306 N Alvernon Way | Tucson, az
A really nice outdoor patio with overhead heating & damn good margaritas - but I think we were all slightly disappointed by the food.
CROOKED TOOTH BREWERY
228 EAST 6TH STREET | TUCSON, AZ
Awesome outdoor seating area for COVID (and normal) times. Friendly staff, flights that come on skateboards, and delicious flavored popcorns. To be honest, the beer wasn’t our favorite, but we thoroughly enjoyed the experience of sitting in the sun with a flight nonetheless.
MORE TIME?
MORE BEER:
MORE FOOD:
what to do
TRAIL RUN IN SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK (east)
This trail run saved us from our hungover misery - and we were really glad we dragged ourselves right back out after checking into our Tucson Airbnb.
The Cactus Forest Trail is a 10 mile out and back trail located in Saguaro National Park (East). A flat and well-maintained path, it was perfect for our first trail run of the trip.
The best part was our timing - we arrived just in time for a few miles in the sunlight, a few miles with a stunning sunset, and a few miles testing out our headlamps.
I finally understood what people say about Arizona sunsets - we would continue to marvel throughout the trip about how they just kind of hang around - we got these beautiful views for what seemed like 45 minutes!
HIKE IN SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK (west)
SWEETWATER TRAIL TO WASSON PEAK
2093 Feet of Elevation Gain
9.3 Miles
I really enjoyed this hike - though it was an out and back, the way back down looked entirely different. We saw SO many Saguaros and it was the perfect amount of effort required to fully enjoy our turkey sandwiches at the top. Highlight was signing the summit log!
Note that you should follow the AllTrails directions to the trailhead parking for this hike - there are a few deceiving signs along the road that had us questioning it - but AllTrails didn’t lead us astray.
A few NOTEs ON SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK
EAST/WEST -Per the National Parks Service: “Saguaro National Park has two districts geographically separated by the city of Tucson. The Rincon Mountain District (RMD) is often referred to as Saguaro East, while the Tucson Mountain District (TMD) is often referred to as Saguaro West.” When using Google Maps, you can use these addresses:
Rincon Mountain District (EAST): 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail, Tucson, Arizona 85730
Tucson Mountain District (WEST): 2700 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona 85743
We were fine using AllTrails to navigate to both the Sweetwater and Cactus Forest trailheads.
GATES/PARKING PASS - Unlike a more popular National Park like Grand Canyon or Joshua Tree, we didn’t encounter any gates to pay an entrance fee or show our National Parks Pass (which we had purchased at the Mesa Ranger Station on our way to the Superstition Mountains).
That being said, make sure you have a proper pass for parking throughout the park. You can read more here.
PRONUNCIATION - It’s suh-waa-row - don’t sound like morons like we did for the first 2/3 of the trip!
historic 4TH AVE SHOPPING
By the time we left Crooked Tooth, many of the shops were closed for the night but we were able to pop into a few.
North 4th Avenue is definitely the place to be in Tucson for shops, restaurants and in non-COVID times, bar-hopping and nightlife. You can definitely tell that this is a college town (home of the University of Arizona and its 40,000+ students).
I would love to go back and browse books at Antigone, sample mesquite and wildflower flavored honey at True Love Honey, shop for thrift store finds at the Tucson Thrift Shop, take a mosaic workshop at Gone 2 Pieces, buy everyone I know a hand-poured candle from Rustic Candle Company and most importantly, experience an Historic 4th Avenue Street Fair!
TAP & BOTTLE DOWNTOWN
I would say our experience at Tap & Bottle was one of the most COVID-safe that we had during the trip. Customers were let in one at a time and asked to wear a glove while browsing the bottles.
The staff were super helpful in their recommendations for favorite local IPA’s, and the shop itself was super organized and easy to find the Arizona-brewed beers.
Stopping by and creating a custom 6-pack is a MUST in my opinion. We always had a local IPA ready to go at our sunset locations throughout the trip.
more time?
TUCSON MURAL WALK
I love beautiful street art and murals! We got to snap a picture of the Greetings from Tucson mural, but there are so many others around the city.
CATCH A SUNSET AT GATES PASS SCENIC OVERLOOK
For every night of the trip, I had a potential sunset viewing spot on the itinerary. We were too busy enjoying beers and walking down North 4th Ave. on our second night in Tucson (and had already experienced an incredible, solitary saguaro sunset on the Cactus Forest Trail the night before) but had we opted for a sunset it would have been here!
CATCH A SUNRISE AT THE TOP OF TUMAMOC HILL
A paved path that’s open from 4 AM - 10 PM - Tumamoc Hill would be the perfect place to catch a sunrise over the city of Tucson! (3.1 Miles Roundtrip and 738 Feet of Elevation Gain).
About an hour and a half north east of Tucson are the Santa Catalina Mountains. With more time, I would have loved to tackle the mountain range’s highest peak - Mount Lemmon - sitting at 9,157 feet. There are multiple trails to to the top, including the Mount Lemmon Loop, an 8.4 mile loop trail climbing 2,450’ of elevation to the peak.
FULL DAY HIKE - TANQUE VERDE RIDGE TRAIL
Now that I know I’m a fan of full-day, high mileage hikes (thanks, Grand Canyon!) I might have opted for the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail to get my taste of Saguaro National Park. At 20 miles and 5597 feet - it would have been a challenge!
If COVID weren’t a thing, I would have loved to check out a spin or strength class at Let’s Sweat! We happened to walk by as we left Crooked Tooth and they had an outdoor class going on that we were tempted to jump in on!
BISBEE
If you’ve really got some extra time, you could take a day or overnight trip to the town of Bisbee - about an hour and a half drive southeast of Tucson. The town’s motto is “Keep Bisbee Bizarre” and this small town is known for its friendly people, artsy shops and creative events.
They even have an annual 4.5 mile run/walk called the Bisbee 1000 The Great Stair Climb (which might need to go on my bucket list!)
I was very sad that I couldn’t work Bisbee into the itinerary - but that just means I’ll need to return to Arizona in the future!
