Southern Arizona Guide offers themed tours, usually twice or three times a month. See tour descriptions and prices below.
Announcements about our upcoming tours are made on our Facebook page and weekly newsletters usually 3-4 weeks in advance of the event.
Sometimes our all day and overnight tours are mid-week. Other times they are on Saturday or Sunday. Day tours usually start in Tucson at 9 AM.
Our Tucson History and Libation Walking Tours are usually the third Saturday of month, weather permitting. In the winter, they start at 10 AM. In the summer, 8 AM.
Click HERE for schedule of upcoming tours and ticket purchases.
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Groups
Yes, we can customize a tour for your group. Let us help you plan it. Also, some group discounts are available depending on the number of people.
Pricing, etc.
Prices always include comfortable round-trip transportation with bottled water and snacks; meal(s) and drink(s); admissions to attractions, museums, or special events; shopping discounts; historical or related material; and knowledgeable, experienced tour guides. All prices are per person. All tours leave from Tucson; usually starting at the Costco parking lot (Kino Parkway & I-10; exit 263B).
For more information and to reserve your place on an upcoming tour,
call Jim at (520) 820-2710. Or email: Jim@SouthernArizonaGuide.com
This is a day trip to either:
- • The Ghost towns near Tombstone: Pearce, Courtland, Gleeson & Fairbank or
- • Ruby, Arizona
Pearce (pop. 15) has 3 quaint little shops & an interesting cemetery. Courtland, a true ghost town, has some photogenic ruins. Gleeson has the 1910 jail. Inside is a small but worthwhile museum. The old Gleeson cemetery is worth a stroll. Fairbank was the rail head closest to Tombstone in its heyday. This tour includes lunch at Big Nose Kate’s in Tombstone. It also includes a choice of three 1-hour Tombstone tours: (1) Dr. Jay’s Tombstone Walking Tour; (2) Tombstone Trolley Tour, (3) Good Enough Mine Tour. We also have discounts available at some of our favorite Tombstone shops, such as Shady Lady’s Closet and Arlene’s. On this tour we usually travel in our big luxury coach that can accommodate 54 passengers. A 15-mile portion of our route is unpaved road.
Southern Arizona Guide Ghost Town Tour bus beside the 1910 Gleeson jail. Most of our group are inside the jail looking around at all the artifacts and old photos from Gleeson’s heyday.
Ruby is our best preserved ghost town. When we take a day trip to Ruby, we dine at Sweet Pea’s Cafe in Arivaca and take a stroll through Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. The road to Arivaca is quite scenic. The road from Arivaca to Ruby is a bit too narrow and rough for our big touring coach, so we travel to Ruby is a smaller, but comfortable van or mini-bus.
Tucson History & Libation Tour group in front of the historic Sosa-Carrillo-Fremont House. They are all smiling because they are discovering a lot about their city they never knew and know that at the end of the tour they get a really good lunch & libation at Maynards in the historic train depot.
This tour takes our guests on a walkabout through the Tucson of the 1870’s & 80’s as seen through the eyes of saloonkeeper, George Hand. We use old photographs, sketches, & maps to locate important historical sites, and excerpts from Mr. Hand’s diary to learn about the fascinating people and events associated with these places 140-some years ago.
Lunch at an historic site, such as Maynards Market & Kitchen in the historic train depot, is included, as are (a) our proprietary history packets; (b) streetcar day tickets, (c) admission to 2 small, but very interesting museums, plus El Presidio del Tucson (est. 1775). This tour is about 3.5 hours plus lunch and we walk about 2.5 miles, occasionally hopping on and off the Modern Streetcar. Learn more about the History and Libation Tour here.
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Land of Legends Day Tour. $150. Duration: 8-9 Hours.
“The worst Indian who ever lived.” Geronimo
On these tours, we explore the Chiricahua and Dragoon Mountains; the land of Cochise and Geronimo. We follow the footsteps of Virgil, Wyatt, & Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday as they walked resolutely down to the OK Corral and into history.
Some “Legend” tours include the fabulous Amerind Museum at Dragoon or a stop over at a Willcox winery for a tasting. Others include a picnic at the ranch of Texas John Slaughter, the legendary sheriff who cleaned up Cochise County after the Earps left.
Santa Cruz River Valley Tour at Tumacacori
Here we follow Rio Santa Cruz for a day through the far northern frontier of New Spain at Tumacácori National Historical Park; Tubac Presidio, & the beautiful Mission San Xavier del Bac. Lunch we enjoy at either Wisdom’s or Elvira’s; both very good Mexican cuisine.
Scenic Back Roads Day Tour $175. Duration: 9-10 Hours.
Hiking Echo Canyon in beautiful Chiricahua National Monument.
We have several Back Roads Tours. On one, we visit Fort Bowie at Apache Pass. This is where the Apache War against Cochise started in 1861 and, after 25 years of misery, death and destruction, finally ended with the surrender of Geronimo.
On another, we ride up to 6,870′ high Massai Point to the place the Apaches named, “Land of Standing Up Rocks”. From here you can choose to hike back to the Chiricahua National Monument Ranger Station through scenic Echo Canyon (about 2.5 hours) with one of our guides. Or you can stay with our van or mini-bus and follow Bonita Creek to historic Faraway Ranch.
On another, we take the winding back road from the wine country of Sonoita & Elgin to historic Fort Hauchuca where the U.S. Army has two unique military museums. This was the home of the 10th Cavalry, aka the Buffalo Soldiers.
Wine Tasting Day Tour. $135. Duration: 6 Hours.
Rancho Rossa Winemaker Chris Hamilton.
We have two unique wine tasting tours. On both you can sample an amazing array of Southern Arizona wines and leave the driving to us. On each tour you will be able to learn about these wines from the vintners themselves.
Sonoita/Elgin Wine Tasting Tour
In the wine country of Sonoita & Elgin, we visit 4 tasting rooms & dine at The Cafe where Chef Adam Puckle will have a delicious selection of appetizers, entrees and desserts for your enjoyment. Learn more about our Wine Tasting tour here.
Willcox Wine Tasting Tour
On the other, we visit several wineries and tasting rooms in or near Willcox. In the fall, we sometimes visit Apple Annie’s Orchards where we spend a little time picking our own fruits and enjoying their bakery and cider mill.
On occasion, we include the Amerind Museum, where they have perhaps the finest private collection of Native American arts and crafts, plus an extensive collection of artifacts from innumerable archeological excavations over many decades. The Amerind, located in scenic Texas Canyon, also has a fine western art gallery.
Day Trips & Overnight Tours
Tombstone At Twilight
Southern Arizona Guide also offers special tours, such as our Tombstone At Twilight Evening Tour ($79) and our Bisbee Overnight Tour ($385). Tombstone, Arizona after sundown is a very different place than Tombstone by daylight. A walk through the streets of the old copper mining town of Bisbee is to find yourself back in the early 20th century.
Our all day and overnight tours are usually mid-week. Our Tucson History and Libation Tours are usually one Sunday per month, weather permitting.
Announcements of our upcoming tours are made in our Facebook page and weekly newsletters usually 3-4 weeks in advance of the event. All tours are subject to change without notice given weather and other conditions beyond our control.
Cancellation Policy
Tickets are non-refundable. However, if for any reason you are unable to make the tour, all tickets are transferable and good for one year from date of purchase. But please let us know if you can’t make it. Should we cancel a tour, all tickets will be refunded in full.
Other Recommended Tours and Tour Guides
In addition to our Southern Arizona Guide tours, there are several worthwhile guided tours offered in Tucson and around Southern Arizona.
Among the most interesting are Reisen Arizona tours to the wineries of Sonoita and Elgin and Taste of Tucson that combines a history walkabout the Old Pueblo with culinary samplings at six Downtown eateries.
The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation offers Tours around Tucson from an Historic Preservation perspective.
The Presidio del Tucson has Tours of the Presidio District and Downtown. From time to time they offer other tours by well known historians.
