Photo courtesy of: http://bit.ly/1n3rVat

Hiking is, naturally, a very hot activity in Arizona. Kinder Crossing allows you to take a break from the heat with its picturesque access to East Clear Creek. Hikers of this trail can have a picnic and go swimming in the cool pools of water that align the hike.

Hikers of Kinder Crossing also get an awe-inspiring view of the Mogollon Rim. Limestone and sandstone steps offer the hikers footholds along a series of switchbacks.

Located near Tucson, Sabino Canyon tours offers a narrated, educational 45-minute, 3.8 mile tour into the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The trams have nine stops along the tour with several restroom facilities and picnic grounds located near Sabino Creek. The tram turns around at Stop #9 and heads back down to the Visitor’s Center, at which point riders may remain on board and hike back down. Trams arrive on average every 30 minutes.

A variety of trails are available along the way for hiking that range from easy to challenging. The main road, one of two routes on which Sabino Canyon Tours operates its Sabino Canyon tram route, is mostly flat and paved. It can be easily navigated by visitors of all ages. The main road ascends from 2,800 to 3,300 feet and crosses Sabino Creek over 9 stone bridges. It is a favorite route for both hikers and bicyclists.

To find out more information about the different trails offered, visit: http://www.sabinocanyon.com/.

How about a hiking trail where you keep cool – as in hiking in 70 degrees and no sunlight? Colossal Cave tour route is a half-mile long and takes about 45-50 minutes to complete. As your guide relates the Cave’s history, legends, and geology, you walk down and back up about six and a half stories and see beautiful cave formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, boxwork, and helictites.

Tours are given daily, year-round. They are not pre-scheduled, but you’ll never wait longer than 30 minutes after you purchase your ticket. You need no special clothing in the Cave, which is always 70 degrees and dry. You are welcome to take pictures inside – you’ll want to use high-speed film and a flash unit for cameras, or a candlelight setting for videocams. Please click here for rates and Park hours.

To check availability and purchase tickets online for a Regular Tour go to Zerve or call (800) 979-3370

Bomb shelters, the Berlin Wall, weekly tests of the Emergency Broadcast System, the piercing sounds of air raid sirens, and the Space Race. These are the hallmarks of the “Cold War” era.

The Titan Missile Museum, located in the town of Green Valley, showcases the dramatic vestiges of the Cold War between the U.S. and former Soviet Union and provides a vivid education about the history of nuclear conflict-a history of keeping the peace.

Visitors enjoy a journey through time as they stand on the front line of the Cold War. This preserved Titan II missile site, officially known as complex 571-7, is all that remains of the 54 Titan II missile sites that were on alert across the United States from 1963 to 1987.

Able to launch from its underground silo in just 58 seconds, the Titan II was capable of delivering a 9-megaton nuclear warhead to targets more than 6300 miles (10,000 km) away in about 30 minutes. There is no other place in the world where visitors can get this close to an intercontinental ballistic missile in its operational environment. This one-of-a kind museum gives visitors a rare look at the technology used by the United States to deter nuclear war. What was once one of America’s most top secret places is now a National Historic Landmark, fulfilling its new mission of bringing Cold War history to life for millions of visitors from around the world.

http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/

Travelers wishing to enjoy the beauty of southern Arizona should look no further than state routes 82 and 83, along a stretch known as the Patagonia-Sonoita Scenic Road.

This stretch offers winding views of vegetation from fields of wildflowers to tall sycamore and cottonwood trees. The drive includes sights of the Patagonia and Santa Rita Mountains, which tower 9,000 feet.

The jaunt is a quick 52-mile stretch, which provides the perfect afternoon drive or daytime outing. Drivers start on State Route 83, which runs south near the community of Vail near Interstate 10. Route 83 goes through a harbor of vineyards resting in the southern Arizona soil. This road will connect with State Route 82, which then takes travelers to the town of Patagonia.

Part of Arizona’s Mountain Empire, Patagonia offers travelers a respite at Patagonia Lake State Park, a destination for hiking, picnicking, bird tours and boating.

After a brief afternoon rest, the State Route 82 continues in to Nogales, Arizona. Travelers can spend the rest of their day exploring Arizona’s largest Mexican border town. Enjoy shopping or wandering in the town or head to Pena Blanca Lake for fishing and boating.

Southern Arizona’s premier, competition-level facility includes a giant water slide, a splash pad for children, a 25-yard recreation pool, classrooms for birthday parties, community meetings and CPR classes, and other family-friendly amenities.

With family changing facilities, heated pools, and an aquatic facility that’s open all year, what more could you ask for in a water recreational facility?

Oro Valley Aquatic Center is a proud partner of:

USA Swimming

Arizona Swimmiing

US Masters

Arizona Masters

USA Synchro

Tucson Synchro

SAAA

This golf course will make any golfer feel like they’re a professional. With its elevation ranging from 2,300 to 3,200 feet, golfers are sure to face challenges and must find ways to be creative in order to overcome them—just like the pros.

The course was developed by Jack Nicklaus. It contains 27 holes and blends naturally among the saguaros and the surrounding Tortolita Mountain Range. The Golf Club at Dove Mountain provides panoramic views with its luxurious and authentic desert experience.  Nicklaus has integrated solid strategy, variety and fair shot values that harmonize with the high desert elevation of 2,300 to 3,000 feet.

The Golf Club at Dove mountain is home of the PGA Tour’s World Golf Championships— Accenture Match Play Championship.

The 250-room Ritz-Carlton resort hotel is also located along the course, for those looking for some good R & R after a long day spent golfing!

A life of a miner has never been an easy one. Miners spend their days in darkness doing grueling labor at a menial salary. Being a miner requires much strength, endurance and willpower. The Copper Queen mine once hosted such hardworking men and today, the Bisbee mine remains open as a tourist destination.

The Copper Queen Mine was one of Bisbee’s richest mines that operated from 1877-1975. Visitors get to learn all about the mine and about the people who spent many hours within it during the Copper Queen Mine Tour. This tour allows visitors to step back into the past as they adorn a hard hat, miner’s headlamp and yellow slicker throughout the tour. Tour guides lead groups 1,500 feet into the mine and recount mining days, techniques, dangers and drama. Visitors will even get to experience first-hand what it was like to work underground.

Escape the Arizona heat by going down under and taking a tour into the incredible Kartchner Caverns.

Discovered in 1974, Kartchner Caverns is home to remarkable minerals and formations

The caverns are carved out of limestone and filled with spectacular speleothems which have been growing for 50,000 years or longer. This tourist site holds the world’s largest stalactite formation. (A stalactite is a type of formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or manmade structures such as bridges and mines.)

The 23,000-square-foot Discovery Center is another must-see at Kartchner Caverns. The center explains many aspects of the cave, including geology, the bat population and paleontology. Interactive exhibits help to explain the discovery of the cave and how formations develop.

Signs relentlessly bombard travelers on the highway in an attempt to lure them into the random flea markets and tourist shops that dot along stretches of road, advertising Native American jewelry and trinkets, or to snag a bottle of “the best bar-b-que sauce in the world.” While there are times where the lonesome stretch of road can seemingly go on forever, the billboards at least help bring comfort that civilization is not too far off.

The least subtle of these roadside campaigns, stretching all the way from California to Texas, is the bright-yellow series of billboards calling attention to “The Thing.” The teasing, taunting billboards stretch for miles, building up the curiosity and suspense: “The Thing? A Wonder of the Desert” – “The Thing? Mystery of Arizona” – “The Thing? Have You Seen It?” – “The Thing? Don’t Miss It!”

Every day, hundreds of visitors passing between Benson and Willcox give in and take Exit 322 to discover just what this enigmatic Thing really is.

Finally, through a mysterious doorway, following the faded yellow feet painted on the floor, past hand-carved figures both miniature and life-size and the gold-dust scales and cracked pottery—you see it. Encased in cinder blocks and guarded by what can only be described as Emperor Bigfoot Horsehead, lies the end to your anticipation. The mystifying …THING. What is it? Is it real? Where did it come from?

As you contemplate what you’ve just seen, true satisfaction comes with the realization that knowledge of The Thing brings the empowering ability to irritate your friends, to withhold its secret until you can goad them into an unwitting road trip