Things To Do
Outdoor Hiking & Exploring
The closest trailheads to the venue and the hotel are Linda Vista, Pima Canyon, Finger Rock, and Catalina State Park. Sabino Canyon Recreation Area: A wonderful desert canyon carved into Mount Lemmon with a perennial creek running down it. Easily accessible hiking and classic Sonoran Desert flora/fauna. Mount Lemmon-Catalina Highway: Trails at all elevations from the desert floor in Tucson all the way up to the tall pine forests. Saguaro National Park: Giant cactus cover the east and west sections which are great to check off your national park list. The eastern side has larger mountains while the western side is closest to the venue/hotel. Catalina State Park: A wonderful state park not far from the hotel/venue with easy to difficult hikes through the Sonoran Desert. -Madera Canyon: We'd be remiss to not mention the great birding spot about 45 minutes south of Tucson in the Santa Rita Mountains.
Museums & Missions
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: We highly recommend the Desert Museum, it's a great place to see native wildlife and learn about the regional ecosystems. Spanish Missions: San Xavier del Bac and Tumacacori Historical Park are two great historical spots to check out the old Spanish influence on the Southwest hundreds of years ago. San Xavier del Bac is closest to Tucson while Tumacacori is closer to Tubac, all within an hour away. Pima Air and Space Museum: A renowned airplane/spaceship museum with a large "aircraft graveyard" located in central Tucson. Old Tucson: A built-up studio town used for hundreds of old Western movies close to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and worth a stop of its own.
Day Trips from Tucson
Tombstone: A famed Old West town known for its storied past, home of the famous OK Corral (hour and a half drive from Tucson) Tubac: A colorful, historic village and artist colony, and recent winner of "Best Small Town Arts Scene" (about an hour drive from Tucson) Mount Lemmon: Drive up the scenic Sky Island and watch the desert turn into a pine forest at almost 10,000 ft. There still might be snow at the top and it's only an hour drive up Catalina Highway from the city. Bisbee: A quaint and picturesque former copper mining town nestled in the Mule Mountains (hour and a half drive from Tucson) Patagonia, AZ: A laid back small town along the Arizona Trail close to a lake, which is also a renown spot for birding and biking.
Golf?
Admittedly, we are not golfers but apparently there is plenty of quality golfing around Tucson and close to the venue/hotel.
Hotel Congress
Great patio, cafe, venue and bar scene in the heart of downtown Tucson.
El Charro Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge
Classic Sonoran-style Mexican food, a true Tucson landmark. Apparently they invented the chimichanga!
Maynards Kitchen & Bottle Shop
Great cafe/restaurant and wine bar right next to the railroad tracks, as it used to be the Tucson train station back in the day.
El Güero Canelo Restaurant
Eat a Sonoran hot dog!