Tucson to Tombstone AZ: Drive time, distance & best stops
The best road trip stops on the Tucson to Tombstone drive are the Pima Air and Space Museum, Colossal Cave Mountain Park and the Holy Trinity Monastery Center. The distance from Tucson to Tombstone by car is 74 miles, with a 1h14m driving time.
Finding things to do on the Tucson to Tombstone drive
The Tucson to Tombstone drive takes you from Arizona’s second largest city to a timewarp town where the Wild West lives on.
Tucson is often used as a base for exploring the Sonoran Desert. But it’s a proper city with an arty streak, a Spanish-tinged history and excellent Mexican food.
Top Tucson experiences include exploring the city’s many murals, taking a self-guided audio tour through Saguaro National Park and canyoneering at Mt Lemmon.
There are also several good bike tours you can do in and around Tucson. Choose from a history-focused ride through the city, e-biking in Saguaro National Park and taco-tasting on two wheels.
Tombstone, Arizona, is a fabulously silly place that buys whole-heartedly into Wild West mythology. The Boot Hill graveyard has comic epitaphs, and the streets look as they would back in the days of the Earp Brothers. Costumed actors stage a gunfight at the OK Corral, blacksmiths work the forge and there’s a bizarre collection of mini-museums and attractions
It’s also possible to do a series of themed walking tours that bring Tombstone even further to life. Choose from ghosts and gunslingers or bullets and bordellos.
Tucson to Tombstone distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Tucson to Tombstone is 74 miles. That makes for a driving time of around one hour and 14 minutes. The quickest route is mainly along the I-10 then AZ-80.
The best stops to add to a Tucson to Tombstone road trip are the Pima Air and Space Museum, Colossal Cave Mountain Park and the Holy Trinity Monastery Center.
Tucson to Tombstone road trip attractions: Pima Air and Space Museum
The Pima Air and Space Museum offers a reverent trawl through aviation history. What started as a plane storage facility at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base has become a celebration of aircraft, ancient and modern.
The museum now covers 80 acres, and houses hundreds of planes from the Wright Flyer to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. There’s a heavy focus on World War II aircraft, however.
Tucson to Tombstone drive: Colossal Cave Mountain Park
Near the town of Vail, Arizona, Colossal Cave Mountain Park offers two rather different cave tours. The first is a 40 minute guided walk, which gives a family-friendly version of the cave’s history, albeit including ghosts and robbers. There are 363 steps to tackle, but the reward is flowstone, stalagmites and stalactites.
The more challenging take on Colossal Cave includes squeezing through narrow passages, clambering on rock bridges and ascending ladders.
Best stops between Tucson and Tombstone AZ: Holy Trinity Monastery Center
The Holy Trinity Monastery Center is just to the south of St David. It is no longer a working monastery, after being dissolved in 2017. What’s left behind, however, is fascinating.
The focal point is the Our Lady of Guadelupe Church, which is built in the adobe style and comes with a meditation garden. There’s also a 1.3 mile bird-viewing trail on the property.
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