46. Cocoraque Ranch Cattle Drives
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 682-8594
Address: 3199 N. Reservation Rd.
Description: To experience the true West, why not check out a real working cattle ranch? Family run since the 1890s, Cocoraque Ranch offers several ways to relive the life of a real cowboy. You can do the work that ranch hands and cowboys have been doing for decades by taking a 2- or 3-hour or all-day trail ride where you’ll check the cattle, fences, and watering holes along the way. If you can band together 15 or more people, you can do a real cattle drive, during which you’ll be in the saddle for 2.5 hours driving the herd from different pastures, then back to the ranch house for a real outdoor cookout with cowboy beans, steak, chicken, and tortillas.
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 13700 N. Oracle Rd.
49. Rocking K Stables
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 647-0040
Address: 13401 E. Old Spanish Trail Rd.
Description: This stable on the east side offers trail rides through 6,000 acres bordering Saguaro Park East. The working ranch also hosts cattle drives complete with fireside Western cookouts. Hayrides and sunset rides are popular here. All levels of riders are welcome. Call for rates and schedule.
50. Walking Winds Stables At Hilton El Conquistador Resort
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 742-4422
Address: 10000 N. Oracle Rd.
Description: Trail rides at these stables will take you through beautiful desert and mountain scenery. The ride through the national forest will afford you some of the best views of the area. Both novice riders and those with a little more experience in the saddle will enjoy rides of 1 or 1.5 hours. They also offer sunset rides for spectacular beauty.Take Oracle Road north to the Hilton El Conquistador Resort; the stables are on the grounds.
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
52. Tucson Balloon Rides
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 235-5355
Address: 3079 W. Avenida Cresta
Description: The flight path for these 3- to 4-hour balloon rides takes you over the Sonoran Desert, Tucson Mountains, Saguaro National Park West, and the Avra Valley at between 500 and 4,000 feet. The Sonoran Sunrise cruise is followed by a champagne brunch. As part of your package, you get a picture taken from chase vehicles that follow below. Open daily Sept through May; free pickups and dropoffs from all resorts and hotels in town. Private and customized high-altitude (6,000 feet–plus) flights are also available by reservation.
53. Rocks & Ropes
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 882-5924
Address: 330 S. Toole Ave., Ste. 400
Description: For all you rock-climbing hounds out there, this indoor rock-climbing gym has plenty to offer. Thirty-five-foot walls with 125 routes, measuring in various degrees of difficulty, fill the converted warehouse. Fifty-three top ropes can also be found.Lessons are offered for newcomers. The $30 first-time fee includes lessons, use of gear, and plenty of information. Monthly memberships are also available. Nonmembers can access the gym. Hours run from 3 to 10 p.m. weekdays and from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. weekends. The doors open to members only at noon during the week. A second location will open on the northeast side in early 2012.
54. Equally Yoked
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 882-9778
Address: 5125 N. 16th St.
Description: Equally Yoked is the largest social club for Christian singles in the nation, with 30 member centers and over 35,000 members. The Tucson location organizes social activities and outings of all kinds.
55. Tucson Desert Singles
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: This local nonprofit organization offers a wide variety of singles activities, from hiking and concerts to happy hours and dances at venues all over town. There is a membership fee to participate; open to singles over 45.
56. Ski Valley, Mount Lemmon
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 576-1321 (live), (520) 5
Description: Ski Valley is the southernmost ski area in North America. At an elevation of 9,100 feet, skiers have their choice of 15 runs ranging from beginner slopes to expert ones. Ski Valley allows for snowboards. Lift ticket prices vary, and rental equipment is available at the ski-lift complex. You can also take a learn-to-ski lesson.Days of operation are truly limited, and if it’s been a dry winter, skiing will be minimal. Call the 24-hour recorded info line for details and conditions. If you are skiing, you will not need to pay the user fee to drive Catalina Highway up the mountain.
57. Breakers Water Park
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (520) 682-2530, (520) 682-2304
Address: 8555 W. Tangerine Rd.
Description: The giant wave pool is the big attraction at this fun spot. But the 5 waterslides come in a close second. Located on the far northwest side, Breakers is open during the summer season, roughly from the end of May until Labor Day. You’ll find a kiddie pool and acres of running-around room as well. No outside food and beverages are allowed, but there is a snack bar. Trees and ramadas offer much-needed shade.Open Tues through Sun 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission prices vary, but anyone under age 3 gets in free. Tube and locker rentals are extra.
58. The Barraza-Aviation Bikeway/Golf Links Path
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: A cyclist can take the path from Escalante and Kolb all the way downtown, crossing the gorgeous bicycle and pedestrian bridges—the Diamondback and Basket. The entire stretch of path is about 10 miles long!As you drive along the city streets, you may see white-painted bicycles out of the corner of your eye. These are ghost bikes, memorials for bicyclists who have been killed or hit on the street. Part of a national program, these memorials appear in over 150 locations throughout the world. Slightly macabre but beautiful, they are reminders to us all to share our streets.
59. David Bell Bike Path
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: This bike path is right in the heart of the city. The 3-mile “loop” makes this a great spot for a quick jaunt either before or after work. The pathway circles a good portion of Reid Park, traveling parallel to Randolph Way on the west, Broadway Boulevard on the north, Alvernon Way on the east, and 22nd Street on the south. Access is easy from any one of these roadways. Those who choose to drive can leave their cars in any one of the park’s parking lots.
60. Mountain Avenue Bike Boulevard
City: Tucson, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Mountain Avenue is a north–south primary collector that leads to and from the University of Arizona. The Mountain Avenue corridor was chosen to encourage and facilitate the use of alternative, nonpolluting modes of transportation. Six-foot bike lanes, separated by a rideable 3-foot buffer area, and reduced travel lanes of 11 feet for vehicles effectively make this a bicycle boulevard that provides a connection from the University of Arizona to the Rillito River Linear Park and Pima County Trail System. South of campus, the bikeway continues along Highland Avenue and connects to the Aviation Bikeway.