The membership is worth it! So many beautiful plants and flowers to see. Love the desert section…read morewith all of the cactus and saguaros. They've really done a great job with the renovation. The new Frida Kahlo exhibit is great. Currently there's a photo exhibit of penguins through June 2026 Their kitchen also has a few vegan options Wheelchairs available for use.

I love this little hidden treasure in the middle of town. Although it's on the smaller scale…read more(compared to larger city botanical gardens) it is always a fun place to visit. The cacti & curated gardens are beautiful, they currently have the Frida Kahlo exhibit with brightly colored displays it matched perfectly with the Sonoran desert landscape. I especially enjoy the butterfly enclosure, the Barrio Gardin surrounded by adobe walls and reclaimed objects as planters and the birds that call this place home. You can grab lunch or a snack and sit under the big shade tree on the patio. They host events, check their website or become a member to receive updates.

Interesting historical site. The docents were informative and friendly and NOT overbearing. The…read moredisplays and information gave me a better appreciation of the area and its history. Worth a short stop. The vendors at the Second Saturday market had unique foods and art. I could have spent $$$ as there were many original pieces. Enjoy!

Steam pump ranch…read more While attending a farmer's market I took advantage of the opportunity to see a really wonderful piece of Old Tucson that actually had family members from the early settlers of the ranch present to give information about the area. (We are lucky enough to have Barbara McIntyre a descendant of the early l settlers George and Mathilda Pusch. Her grandmother was one of their children. It was just very interesting to have that living history part of the museum by having the actual descendants share their perspective of early Tucson. George Pusch built the pump house in about 1875, he was very much in astute businessman and he took advantage of the local surface water to put in a steam pump and a Holding area for watering livestock. During the time cattle drives would be coming down from Tucson to the desert to get in the rail lines and of course the cattle would be very lean because they've been in the desert for a long time. He charged about 15 cents ahead for cattle to be watered which would increase their weight before they got shipped and would increase the amount of money that the cattle drovers would get for their cattle at market. Eventually they bought more land surrounding this area and at one time actually had over 15,000 cattle in the range that they were working with. They're also encounters with indigenous Apaches and the area also was famous all the way back from when Spanish settled the area for the lure of gold and there is of course a legend of a secret gold mine. He had several other business ventures including a butcher shop of course which connected into the cattle in a ice storage facility in Tucson. Mr Pusch was also a member of the Arizona territorial legislature. When he died much of the cattle operations were shutting down. In 1933 a new era in the ranch was brought on by the second significant historical family that the steam pump ranch. The Proctor family. During the prohibition area the ranch hosted several copper Homebrew mescal and sold it to locals. When Mr Jack Proctor took over the ranch many things were abandoned. At the same time he was the manager owner operator of the luxury Pioneer hotel and the owner director of Valley national bank. His hobbies were raising prize bowls and at the ranch he created a bunch of chicken farms to provide chicken and eggs to the guests of the pioneer hotel. His family also supported the original Tucson rodeo or the festival de vaqueros This area also hosted the first guest ranch in Arizona. We're also lucky to have the granddaughter of one of the proctors who lived on the ranch and was a barrel racer being one of the docents at the museum. It's her saddle that's displayed at the museum. I hope that people are motivated to learn more and go out and listen to people especially since you have the Arizona statehood celebration coming up.

What a great collection of historic and modern military vehicles! This is an important part of our…read morehistory and now you can see what our armed forces used. This is a great opportunity to get close to amazing vehicles from different countries. The building is packed with so many things, I think they should have built a bigger building!

This is a new museum and it's incredible. I absolutely love military vehicle museums and this one…read moreis a gold mine. They have about 70 vehicles and they encompass everything from main battle tanks to armored personnel carriers. It is right next to the Pima Air and Space Museum but they are separate paid admissions. Thank goodness this museum is indoors as that dessert heat really sneaks up on you. This museum is really well laid out and easy to walk through. The information placards for the vehicles are concise and detailed. I really enjoyed seeing the old Soviet era tanks and vehicles. Vehicles from WWI through modern times are all showcased. The staff is helpful and quite pleasant. They have a simple snack shop and gift shop as well. It's a little humbling standing next to such large weapons of war. I hope to never see one anyplace other than a museum. The parking is simple and the building is clean and well maintained.

Im so glad we now know about this place now! My toddler and his friends loved it! Everywhere you…read morelook there are extensive train tracks inside and out and buttons for kids to push to make the trains move! There's also a kids train track play area, a train that you can ride around the property and a huge train you can go inside and tour! They have a small store area where they sell train merchandise and collectibles. They are only open Sundays from 1-4, September-May! It's a non profit and mostly run by volunteers. The admission is $5 per person or $10 for your family which is a great deal! We will definitely be back!

Amazing experience for my young railfans. It would be nice if it were open more hours, but I'll…read moretake what I can get. Great model exhibits of all sizes. Friendly staff, volunteers, and other guests.

So happy that they are located near my home can imagine for a beautiful Mexican dinner, the staff…read moreis always friendly and helpful

Not bad for the first year of a convention…read more Holding an Old West steampunk con (YES! YES! YES! This has NOT been explored enough) at Old Tucson Studios was genius. It was insanely fun walking around a dusty, ghost town set-up full of people dressed as cowboys and folk from the Victorian era. Some of which were outfitted, head to toe, in steampunk wear. Walking around in this authentic-looking area in costume was more sensory-intensive than a Renaissance faire. For one thing, you're already in what was the Old West, and another, Old Tucson Studios was still playing their normal entertainment, including stunt shows. You could be idling around in your top hat and brass goggles and some guy could come flying off a building, while "Billy the Kid" starts shooting at him. We took a gamble making the trek for this out-of-state (for us), first-time con, and really I've got no regrets. It's fun getting to tell people you've been electrocuted by a lycanthropic shock prod. Looking forward to next year.

A varied collection, well curated and tastefully organized. Was a true find on a hot day.read more

Based on the museum's name, I didn't expect to find about a dozen very good paintings by 19th and…read moreearly 20th century masters lining two walls in a corridor that leads from one gallery to another. I was rewarded by what I did expect: galleries of Native American rugs that looked like an exhibition of minimalist paintings. Staring at the repetitive patterns employed by skilled artisans didn't put me in a trance but these rugs held my gaze for a long time. I took a break and watched a video on the challenges of modern rug makers; water shortages are becoming more prevalent and it affects all stages of production from ensuring sheep have enough to drink to finding the natural sources of the dyes used.

My first time visiting here and I'm sad. I haven't been here before. It cost $10 to get in. And the…read moremuseum was very well laid out with incredible samples of minerals and gems and great explanations along the way I could've stayed there for hours, but we only had two. Frankly that wasn't enough one of the docents chatted with me about the specimens, and we met a man who loaned his tourmalines from Maine and that was really fun. If you're in Tucson, make a point to come to this museum. It's completely worth it.

Fantastic natures best…read morecool location.The historic old courthouse is a hoot. easy and fun to explore.Downtown in general. . p.s. I learned alot of science and enjoyed myself. take it in It was the mineral show experence without the craziness.

A fantastic experience at the 2024 Chilly Willy Race. The facility is easy to get to and does not…read moredisappoint. Love the family environment and look forward to returning next year.

Talk about good, clean family fun!!!…read more I've been several times over the past couple of years and it's always a guarantee that a fun time will be had. There are various different races taking place during the night which keeps everyone entertained....even short races (six laps) which is easy on a child's attention span. We were there on 3/31 and even snagged some $5 off coupons at Circle K so adult admission was only $9 each. We watched super late models, trucks, hornets, hobby stocks and some others. Because the track and stands are small, you get to meet family members of the drivers which is pretty cool. We sat near and talked to the grandparents of a 10-year old boy racing these really cool miniature race cars that actually go about 70 mph!!! Several food options are available at good prices and cheap beer too!