Day Trippin' › Arizona › From Tucson › Within 3 hours
46 places are worth the drive within 3 hours of Tucson, counted by road time from ZIP 85701: 13 under 1 hour, 21 1 to 2 hours and 12 2 to 3 hours.
The mix leans toward history, mountains & views and hikes, mostly to the northwest and southeast. Three hours each way makes a long day trip, or an easy overnight if you would rather not drive back the same day.
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).
Under 1 hour 1 to 2 hours 2 to 3 hours
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.
Photo: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0
National monument · 3 hr north
A five-story Sinagua cliff dwelling tucked in a limestone cliff above Beaver Creek.
Photo: Tony the Marine, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ghost town · 2 hr 56 min northwest
A restored 1860s gold-mining camp outside Wickenburg with original buildings and guided tours in the cooler months.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Town · 2 hr 42 min northwest
An Old West town with a strong Western art museum (the Sigler Western Museum, formerly Desert Caballeros), bronze statues and the old Jail Tree in the historic district.
Photo: Matthew.kowal, CC BY 4.0
Park · 2 hr 37 min northwest
A rare green strip of cottonwoods and willows along the Hassayampa River near Wickenburg, with Palm Lake and nearly 300 bird species recorded.
Photo: Jbparrish, CC BY-SA 4.0
Scenic drive · 2 hr 48 min northeast
Climb more than 7,000 feet on the Swift Trail, from desert to spruce and aspen forest near Arizona's tallest sky-island peak, with cool picnic spots and trailheads on the way.
Photo: ALAN SCHMIERER from southeast AZ, USA, CC0
Wildlife · 2 hr 6 min southeast
Watch more than 20,000 sandhill cranes rise off the wetlands at sunrise and fly back in by late morning, one of Arizona's best winter wildlife shows.
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 46 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.
13 of the 46 places need no pass or fee, such as Bisbee, Cave Creek Canyon and Chiricahua National Park. Fees and passes change, so check each place before you go.
40 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.