Old West

Old West Arizona sweeps across the southeastern corner of the state, the high-desert and mountain country that runs from Tucson east to the New Mexico line. The landscape is layered — broad valleys at 3,000 to 4,000 feet, with sky islands rising abruptly to 9,000-foot pine forests on the Santa Catalinas, Chiricahuas, and Pinaleños. Pima County holds Tucson and most of the urban weight; Cochise, Santa Cruz, Graham, and Greenlee counties make up the rural surround. Tombstone, Bisbee, Sierra Vista, Nogales, and Willcox handle the small-town traffic. Saguaro National Park bookends Tucson east and west; Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Memorial, and Kartchner Caverns add the public-land draws. Trips here split between urban and outdoor. Tucson handles the food, museum, and resort circuit; the smaller towns carry the mining and frontier history (Tombstone’s gunfighter sites, Bisbee’s copper-camp architecture); and the sky-island ranges support some of the best birding in North America. Winter is peak season — summers are hot in the valleys and require elevation.