Day Trippin' › Arizona › From Tucson › Within 2 hours
34 places are worth the drive within 2 hours of Tucson, counted by road time from ZIP 85701: 13 under 1 hour and 21 1 to 2 hours.
The mix leans toward mountains & views, history and hikes, mostly to the southeast and northwest. Two hours each way is the sweet spot for a day trip: you can leave after breakfast and be home for dinner.
The headline places are Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, Saguaro National Park West and Kartchner Caverns State Park, and the closest real day trip is Titan Missile Museum (26 min).
Photo: Lee Adlaf from Birmingham, AL, USA, CC BY 2.0
Canyon · 27 min northeast
A green desert canyon with a creek, pools and saguaro slopes. Ride the narrated shuttle up the canyon road, then walk back down or hike from the top stops.
Photo: Mike Lewis, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cave · 49 min southeast
Take a guided walk through a living limestone cave that is still wet and growing, with formations so fragile the cave stayed secret for years after it was found.
Photo: Aspersions at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Museum · 26 min south
Go down into the only Cold War Titan II missile silo open to the public, with the missile still standing in its launch tube.
Photo: Mosamiazaz, Public domain
Town · 44 min south
Browse a walkable arts village full of galleries, then visit the remains of Arizona's oldest Spanish fort (1752) and the state's first printing press.
Photo: Marine 69-71, CC BY-SA 4.0
Winery · 54 min southeast
Drive through rolling high grasslands dotted with vineyards and stop at a few of Arizona's oldest tasting rooms, with wide mountain views.
Photo: dconvertini, CC BY-SA 2.0
National park · 27 min west
The graded dirt Bajada Loop runs through some of the thickest saguaro forest anywhere, with a short climb at Signal Hill to boulders covered in ancient Hohokam rock carvings.
Photo: Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0
Town · 1 hr 13 min southeast
Walk the wooden boardwalks of Allen Street in the 1880s silver boomtown made famous by the Earps, then step into the 1882 county courthouse, now a museum, for the town's real story.
Photo: Scotwriter21, CC BY-SA 4.0
Garden · 1 hr 40 min northwest
Thousands of desert plants along garden trails in Papago Park, beautiful in spring bloom.
Photo: WClarke, CC BY-SA 4.0
Scenic drive · 1 hr 18 min northeast
Climb from saguaro desert to pine forest in about an hour, with big viewpoints like Windy Point on the way up and pie and cabins in tiny Summerhaven near the top.
Photo: Photo by Matthew A. Lynn,, Public domain
State park · 1 hr 17 min south
Spend the day on a quiet lake in the hills near the border, with a swim beach, boat rentals and good birding along Sonoita Creek.
Photo: Yassie, CC BY-SA 3.0
Museum · 1 hr 41 min northwest
One of the country's best museums of American Indian art and culture.
Photo: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0
State park · 1 hr 59 min north
Trails at the foot of the Superstition Mountains, gold with wildflowers in a good spring.
Our picks, by drive time, include Sabino Canyon Recreation Area (27 min), Kartchner Caverns State Park (49 min), Titan Missile Museum (26 min), Tubac and Tubac Presidio (44 min) and Sonoita and Elgin Wine Country (54 min). The full list on this page has 34 places, each with its drive time and direction from Tucson.
34 places within 2 hours, 46 within 3 hours and 100 within 4 hours of Tucson, by road from ZIP 85701.
10 of the 34 places need no pass or fee, such as Bisbee, Chiricahua National Park and Coronado National Memorial. Fees and passes change, so check each place before you go.
28 places are marked good for kids, including Desert Botanical Garden, Heard Museum and Lost Dutchman State Park.
They are by real roads on a typical day, from the middle of ZIP 85701 to each place (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Traffic, weather and closures can change them. Places under 25 minutes from the city center count as in town, not a day trip, so they are left out.
Yes. Type your ZIP code into Day Trippin' and it shows everything by drive time. Your ZIP is used for that one search and is not saved.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP <class 'zip'> (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.