bugsy running on lone rock beach with the airstream and f-150 in the background

Four nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #3)–Big Trip #4

We were in Tucson at the beginning of November 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Read about our first trip in 2018 here, our second in 2021 here, and our fourth in 2023 here. And I finally wrote a Tucson Favorites post!

vista on Romero Trail in Catalina State Park
hiking into Romero Canyon

We weren’t supposed to go to Tucson during Big Trip #4. When building our itinerary, we decided to skip our beloved Tucson in favor of spending more time in Sedona, a town which never really spoke to us, to see if we could fall for it like everyone else seemingly has. Welllll we changed our minds a couple weeks before leaving California for Arizona, and were able to cancel our Sedona campground and book a spot in Tucson. Sorry Sedona, maybe next time?

Tucson is just too awesome to skip. It has phenomenal hiking, stellar food, and fantastic beer. It has more history and grit than scenic but super-touristy Sedona.

hiking in the saguaros in Sweetwater Preserve
saguaros saguaros everywhere in Sweetwater Preserve

[I stole a paragraph from here on Tucson’s colorful history to put into our Tucson Favorites post. Go read that post, not just for a history lesson, but because it lists our favorite things about Tucson!]

Ok, back to our visit in November 2022: sure, we hit a lot of places we’ve written about before, but we visited a bunch of notable new ones, so this post won’t be old news.

Campground

Bugsy and the Airstream at our campsite at Sentinel Peak RV Campground
Bugsy in her yard

For the third time, we stayed at Sentinel Peak RV Park, and can’t see why we’d stay at different Tucson campground. It’s a short drive to downtown and a long-ish walk (or a short bike ride) to the very cool Mercado District of eating, drinking, and shopping establishments.

Eating

I look at this list and wonder how we could fit so much eating into only four days. We knew we were about to head into a stretch of less-exciting food options, so we wanted to eat well while we could. Plus, remember the whole City of Gastronomy thing?

Repeated favorites

tacos at Boca
Boca tacos

Boca for tacos: We looooved our Boca tacos the first time we went in 2019, but each subsequent time it’s been a little less wonderful, to the point that it might not make the list for next trip–except to pick up salads to go, which has become a tradition for a healthy dinner the first night at our next destination.

lunch veggie plate at The Little One
veggie plate at The Little One

The Little One for lunch: This tiny Mexican cafe is always fresh and delicious, and we also order family-sized portions of meat, rice, and beans to take to our next destination.

fish taco at Pico de Gallo
fish taco at Pico de Gallo, the perfect snack

Taquería Pico de Gallo for a fish taco: This was my snack when J had his Sonoran hot dog. So yummy. This is Uncle Jim’s favorite restaurant in Tucson, and Uncle Jim knows Tucson!

breakfast burrito from Seis Kitchen along the trail in Saguaro National Park
the ideal location for eating a breakfast burrito, from Seis Kitchen

Seis Kitchen for breakfast burritos: we’d had tacos at Seis, and were excited to pick up breakfast burritos to take hiking. They were sooo good. Potato, cheese, egg, avocado, chiles, and a fluffy tortilla = the best desert breakfast.

New (to us) and noteworthy

dinner and cocktail at Tito and Pep
dinner and drink at Tito and Pep

Tito and Pep for dinner: This is a super cute, super scrumptious Southwestern bistro in the Midtown neighborhood. We had great food, great drinks, great service, and a great experience… but it’s just too far away from our campground, so sadly, we won’t be back very often.

veggies for dinner at Bata
veggie delight at Bata

Bata for dinner: Bata has a locally-focused, veggie-heavy menu of sharable plates cooked over a wood fire, and was another all-around fantastic dining experience.

sonoran hotdog from Ruiz Hot Dogs
the Sonoran hotdog in Tucson?

Ruiz Hot Dogs for Sonoran hotdogs: J thought the Sonoran hotdogs at Ruiz were better than his long-time favorite El Güero Canelo.

ramen for dinner from Kukai and a beer at MSA Annex
ramen from Kukai, and a beer from Westbound

Kukai for ramen: On a chilly night sitting by a fire pit at our favorite hangout, the MSA Annex, Kukai’s spicy ramen helped to warm us up. The rest of the Japanese menu looks fab too.

tiny hole-in-the-wall Barista del Barrio
Barista del Barrio is literally a hole in the wall

Barista del Barrio for breakfast burritos: this awesome little window with patio seating is close to our campground. We grabbed breakfast burritos for the drive to New Mexico, and I couldn’t resist ordering a horchesso (yes, a latte made with horchata) which blew my mind. The burritos were good but we liked Seis’s better for being less potato-heavy.

Drinking

Pueblo Vida is still our favorite brewery in Tucson, and we tried a couple really neat new-to-us cocktail bars along “Tucson’s cocktail corridor” downtown.

Beer

beers by the window at Pueblo Vida Brewing
window beers at Pueblo Vida

Pueblo Vida Brewing Co: We can’t get enough of Pueblo Vida’s sours and hazy IPAs. In four days we visited twice and bought a bunch of cans to take back east with us.

beer at Borderlands on the patio
patio beer at Borderlands

Borderlands Brewing: Borderlands brews consistently good beer and we appreciate the big dog-friendly patio near downtown. From beer-smartie J: “This is our second favorite brewery; when we were there they had a solid hazy IPA for J and a well-balanced tangerine sour for Lauren, and we always enjoy their peaceful, shady, Mesquite-filled patio.”

beers on the patio at MotoSonora
beer and dog at MotoSonora

MotoSonora Brewing: This was our first time at MotoSonora, a ten-minute drive from the campground, and while the beer was just ok we really liked the beer garden with its old-timey-road-trip theme.

the patio at Dillinger Brewing
the Fourth Ave-facing people-watching patio at Dillinger

Dillinger Brewing: J didn’t much care for their three hazy IPAs, but my mango sour with a tajin rim was delish. From their 4th Street location on Halloween night, we got in some top-notch people watching!

Cocktails

cocktail at Owl's Club
cocktail at the bar at The Owl’s Club

The Owl’s Club: Well this is a cool spot for a fancy cocktail. The bar’s dark indoor space is in an old funeral home, with a private courtyard in a historic downtown neighborhood.

cocktail at Tough Luck Club
cocktail at the bar at Tough Luck Club

Tough Luck Club: This bar feels like a secret, tucked away in the basement of a downtown pizza restaurant. Our cocktails were extremely well-made.

cocktail at Westbound in the MSA Annex
cocktail from the tap at Westbound

Westbound: Our favorite hangout MSA Annex houses our maybe-favorite non-brewery bar, Westbound–ranking so highly more for the atmosphere than for the cocktails. We sat outside drinking cocktails on tap and local beers (they have an impressive beer selection) and randomly bumped into an old friend!

Coffee

coffee and scone at Decibel
birthday scone and latte at Decibel

Decibel: For my birthday breakfast I chose to go back to the Annex for an al fresco breakfast from Decibel of a cafe de olla and an incredible goat cheese veggie scone. Perfect!

latte at Presta in MSA
latte at Presta

Presta: J had a meeting and kicked me out of the Airstream, so I went for coffee and wi-fi at Presta, in the main section of the Mercado, not the Annex. It was a cozy spot for computer time, and La Estrella Bakery next door was packed–I guess we should give it a try!

Hiking

One of the things we love about Tucson is the proximity to gorgeous hiking. There are several in-town parks, mostly dog-friendly, with shorter trails; and Tucson is sandwiched between the two halves of Saguaro National Park. Adjacent to Tucson and the west side of the national park is Tucson Mountain Park, and just to the north of the city lies the lovely Catalina State Park. That’s why we hiked six times in four days!

hiking in Painted Hills Trails Park
hiking in Painted Hills Trails Park

Painted Hills Trail Park: Having all these little parks a short drive away makes us so happy! We hiked for almost four miles on the Painted Hills Trails loop and felt surprisingly out in the wild, among the saguaro and without lots of houses and road noise. Dogs are allowed, as are hikers, bikers, and runners.

crested saguaro in Sweetwater Preserve
crested saguaro in Sweetwater Preserve

Sweetwater Preserve: This may be the prettiest of the Pima Country trails parks, but it also seems to be the most popular, and sharing the trail with speeding mountain bikes can be a little nerve wracking. The density and shapes of the saguaros is a hoot. We also learned a bit about crested saguaros after hiking in Sweetwater, as we’d spotted several over our Tucson time and I finally did some research. They’re rare, and nobody’s really sure why the mutation occurs–maybe genetics, maybe lightning, maybe a freezing event.

hiking among saguaros in Enchanted Hills Trails Park
saguaros and city views in Enchanted Hills Trails

Enchanted Hills Trails Park: We hiked the El Grupo Loop, a nice and short 2.5-mile rolling walk through pretty cacti, with more houses and roads around than other in-town parks. The trails are dog-friendly and open to hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and equestrians; we only saw one biker and one hiker on a weekday.

hiking into the saguaros in Tucson Mountain Park
more saguaros, fewer people in Tucson Mountain Park

Tucson Mountain Park: Hiking more in this park is at the top of our to-do list for next visit–it’s incredibly scenic, and so convenient. The only downer is that no dogs are allowed, but old Bugsy appreciates a day off from time to time. We hiked this 6.2-mile out-and-back and wished we’d had more time to keep going.

hiking to Wasson Peak in Saguaro National Park
hiking to Wasson Peak in Saguaro NP

Saguaro National Park: It was only a twenty-minute drive from our campground in a big city to a freaking national park. We hiked to Wasson Peak on the western side of the national park, a pleasant eight-mile loop and man we really love those kooky saguaros. No dogs are allowed on the national park trails.

hiking in Catalina State Park
hiking into Romero Canyon

Catalina State Park: When we spent two days camping in Catalina a couple years ago, Romero Canyon Trail was closed, so we were excited to give it a go.

Romero Pools and waterfall in Catalina
falls! pools! in the desert!

It’s a challenging six-mile hike with bonkers vistas along the way, and incredibly beautiful pools and falls at the end. In the desert! We’re curious about hiking farther next time–what’s up there? (Well, it turns out you can hike all the way to Mount Lemmon, a difficult 15-mile one-way hike.) No dogs are allowed on Romero Canyon Trail.

Bugsy on the path to Tumamoc Hill before we realized she wasn't allowed
when we thought we were walking up Tumamoc Hill

Tumamoc Hill: This was a fail for Bugsy and me, while J was working. We planned on a fun walk up the very popular 1.6-mile path to the top of Tumamoc Hill with views over the city, just a couple minutes from home… but no dogs are allowed.

To do

Bugsy dressed for Halloween with a bat headband
Bugsy celebrating Halloween in the Airstream. She looks so old!!!

We’re returning to Tucson for Christmas 2023, with a twist: while we’re camping in the Airstream at the campground as usual, J’s family will be in an Airbnb not too far away. J’s brother and fam lived in Tucson for many years until eight years ago, and we’re excited to show them some of our new favorites and revisit some of their old haunts. Here are some things we have planned:

  • Family-friendly hiking in Catalina (we plan to take the Airstream up there for a couple nights)
  • Beer drinking at Pueblo Vida

And our to-do list for the following visit, when J and I can get back to focusing on new things:

  • Hike more in Tucson Mountain Park–check out trails on this super useful website
  • Reading about the Catalina to Mt Lemmon hike made me think we need to check out the trails on Mt Lemmon
  • Check out the food trucks at The Pit food truck park, if we happen to be on the far east side of the city

From Tucson, we continued east into New Mexico to Alamogordo, the gateway to White Sands National Park.

Comments

5 responses to “Four nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #3)–Big Trip #4”

  1. […] We were in Tucson in early February 2021. Read about our first visit in 2019 here and our second in 2022 here. […]

  2. Uncle Jim Avatar
    Uncle Jim

    Now I understand why you didn’t call me when you were here. Just way too much going on what with all that drinking, eating and hiking. Could never keep up with you two. three things though: you mentioned the Dillinger brewery but didn’t mention the fact that the area got that name for the time in the 30’s when he was captured trying to jump out of the hotel at the train station. Of course he escaped after one day so I guess it didn’t count. You should also note that Wyatt Earp killed the last of the Clanton guys at the Tucson train station. I always enjoy visiting that spot thinking I can see it all over again. Finally thanks for not mentioning MY very favorite hike in the Saguaro park. Wouldn’t want old Hugh to get too crowded you know.

  3. […] east from Tucson, you can’t not stop at White Sands National Park. Well, you CAN not stop–we’ve […]

  4. […] camping locations for a few years, and it jumped out at us as we started mapping our trip home from Tucson. Our original itinerary for Big Trip #4 called for us to swing north from Palm Springs to Sedona […]

  5. […] of this writing in October 2023, we’ve taken the Airstream to Tucson three times: in November 2022, as part of Big Trip #4; in 2021, as part of our Winter Warmth Trip; and in 2018, during […]

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