Things To Do In Pinal County, Arizona

Perhaps Pinal County should be named “Penal County” because the major employers here are State & Federal prisons. And the list of things to do in Pinal County, Arizona is short. Nevertheless, all are worthwhile day trips from Tucson.

Florence, the county seat, has a lot to offer history buffs, including a small, but excellent museum & a pleasant walking tour of restored historic buildings.

Not far from Florence are two other worthy sites: (1) Casa Grande Ruins National Monument and (2) Picacho Peak State Park where every Spring they re-enact the Western-Most Battle of the American Civil War.

Just North of Florence is a fine Troon golf course.

Tucson To Oracle State Park Via Redington Pass

Another Sunday drive. This time Neighbor Roy, Ms. Karen, and I were off to Oracle State Park via Redington Pass east of Tucson. Access to Redington Pass is easy. Just go east on Tanque Verde. Eventually, the pavement ends and the worst road in Southern Arizona begins. Even the high-clearance 4-wheel drive vehicles [...]

Florence, AZ: The Death of Tom Mix

In 1929, Wyatt Earp died in Los Angeles, nearly broke. For years, he had tried unsuccessfully to sell his life story to Hollywood producers. At his funeral, one of his pallbearers was Tom Mix, the rich, famous, and handsome star of silent westerns. Eleven years later, his movie career in decline, Mix died in a car accident 20 miles south of Florence.

Picacho Peak Civil War Re-enactment: A Slideshow

Tucson was the capitol of the Confederate Territory of Arizona between March 20, 1862, when the flag of the Confederate States of America was raised over Tucson and May 20, when the Union Calvary of the California Volunteers drove the last Confederate soldiers out of the City.

During that short period, 50 miles NW of Tucson, an engagement was fought between a Union cavalry patrol and a party of Confederate pickets from Tucson. Every year in March, dedicated men & women from all over come together at Picacho Peak State Park to reenact the western-most battle of the American Civil War: the Battle of Picacho Peak.