Sentinel Peak Park, also known locally as A Mountain, is a highly visible landmark of Tucson. The gigantic, white-painted stone "A" that looks over the downtown was constructed by University of Arizona students in 1915. 

This outing is a short drive up A Mountain, followed by a short hike to the viewpoint above the city. The views of Tucson from the top are so worth the trek! I can imagine sunset would also be a good time of day to enjoy this spot with the city lights beginning to shine. An interesting observation we noted in Sentinel Peak Park were the many saguaros with mutations that we have never seen elsewhere. Unfortunately, we noticed a lot of broken glass at the viewpoint too, so be careful!

Hours:

Monday: no vehicle access

Tuesday-Thursday: 2 p.m.-sunset

Friday-Sunday: 11 a.m.-sunset

This festival was a highlight of my time in Tucson! I cannot recommend this event enough! This free music festival has 150+ performances, a handful of stages, and closes three blocks of downtown for three days! My friend Marta and I met up to hike on that Saturday and ended up here after dinner. It was such an unexpected hit! There are vendors, food trucks, and plenty of places to sit or dance! Since the festival is absolutely free to attend, I drove into the city again on Sunday and enjoyed another day of free music! This event is fun and accessible for all ages. I highly recommend going to hear all the incredible performers and for the overall energy of it all! 

When:                                                                                                                                             April 4-6, 2025

While running errands or driving to a trailhead, I also stopped at my fair share of garage sales! If there’s an empty corner, there’s possibly a sale. And where there’s a corner, there’s a sign because this is the season in Tucson when garage sales are happening! I loved using garage sales as an excuse to check out a new area of the city or spend a little extra time exploring a neighborhood on my way elsewhere. Garage sales, though, are only free if you’re good at just looking! Personally, I live for the thrill of hunting for unique travel souvenirs!

This location is a must-visit location when you find yourself in Tucson! Here, you will learn about the history of this Spanish Catholic mission and how it served and colonized the indigenous community. It doesn’t matter whether you are religious or not or if you enjoy history; the architecture of this church, also known as the White Dove of the Desert, is a sight for all to behold! Be sure to hike the small hill next to the mission for a different vantage point!

Hours:

Monday-Sunday: 9am-4pm

Vigil Mass (Saturday evening): 5:15pm

Sunday Mass: 10am-12pm (noon)

In Tucson right now, the birds are OUT! And these desert birds are built differently, with the ability to cling to saguaros and nest in teddy bear cholla! They seriously amaze me and simultaneously worry me with their choice of home amongst the cactus. I have noticed that even the state bird, the cactus wren, may fall victim to a prickly cholla if it is not agile enough! With the bird activity heating up, all you have to do to observe them is *carefully* be amongst the cactus too! Bring binoculars and find a spot and soon you’ll be seeing all types of birds fluttering around you. My top favorites, among many, are the loud white-winged dove, the stunning Gila woodpecker, the glaring curved-billed thrasher, the fancy-feathered Gambel’s quail, and the rare crested caracara! If you look closely this time of year, you may be able to observe birds nesting or feeding their young. 

Two special places to visit in the spring sun rather than the summer heat would be the El Tiradito Wishing Shrine and Barrio Viejo. The shrine was the first Arizona property added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is said to be the only wishing shrine of its kind in the U.S. Be sure to bring a candle to light or make a wish upon a candle that is already there. Barrio Viejo is a nearby, colorful, and quiet neighborhood. I enjoyed walking around with my camera capturing the vibrantly painted adobe homes. This district exemplifies the influence of Spanish and Hispanic architectural traditions on American Southwestern cities.

Something I did throughout my time in Tucson was seek out crested saguaros! Within the Saguaro National Park boundaries, there are about 2 million saguaros, but only about 75 are crested! There is no definitive cause of this appearance, but many scientists speculate it may be due to a genetic mutation or environmental factors. (https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/the-crested-saguaro.htm. Seeing a crested saguaro feels pretty remarkable, knowing how rare they are! To find some crested saguaros to admire, you can simply search online or check out the small scavenger hunt map I created at the end of this blog post!

Go quickly! Now is the time to find water in Tucson! As the snow warms up, creeks flow towards Tucson carrying cold alpine snowmelt down from Mt. Lemmon. Tanque Verde Falls consists of an 80-foot waterfall with smaller falls and pools. This is a popular spot for swimming and dipping in the water on a hot spring day. To get there, drive up Redington Pass past where the pavement ends. There are two trailheads, the lower and the upper trailhead. From those two spots, you can hike down to the creek and enjoy the water! This is also one of few areas in Tucson where you can legally fly a drone. On this day, I came to fly our drone and just check it out. Since it was super hot, windy in the air, and my first time flying alone, I didn’t spend much time here. Next time though, I’ll come more prepared with swim gear! 

This is a roadside attraction that I loved to see with my own eyes! We drove past this massive 30-foot neon sign in the shape of a cactus a handful of times and I knew before leaving Tucson that I needed to make a stop at this statement sign! Park your car on a side street and walk a couple hundred feet to the road median, where the cactus stands! Dirk Arnold is the artist behind this tribute to the neon signs of the motels and restaurants along Miracle Mile. 

There are so many markets to visit during March and April! The weather is ideal now for a walk through craft tables or produce stands. My favorite art markets I attended were the biannual Fourth Avenue Street Fair and the Made in Tucson Market! The Fourth Avenue Street Fair was expansive with hundreds of vendors and food trucks at every intersection of closed roads. The Made in Tucson Market was smaller and easier to navigate with the artists exclusively being Pima County-based. My favorite farmers’ markets, the Heirloom Markets, are so accessible, as there are five held valley-wide! I attended two of the markets, specifically the Rillito Park and Rincon Valley farmers’ markets. Another market worth attending is the monthly Dirty T Tamarindo Night Markets. I first met the owner of Dirty T Tamarindo, Alana, at the Sunday Rillito Park farmers’ market. Ever since, I have been absolutely hooked on her candy and mission. Dirty T hosts monthly markets in their parking lot and invites all their vendor friends to join in! The market is very inclusive and Alana goes above and beyond to make her markets truly for the community! When I attended the Dirty T Tamarindo night market, I was graced with the most beautiful mariachi performance, the first I had ever seen! At other night markets, there has also been a dunk tank, a children's bike and piñata giveaway, and lots more fun!