Tucson Travel Guide — Best Time, Things to Do & Where to Stay

Why Tucson

Tucson is the seat of Pima County and the second-largest city in Arizona, located in the southern part of the state. Positioned on an alluvial plain within the Sonoran Desert at an elevation of 2,643 feet, the metropolitan area is encircled by five minor mountain ranges. These include the Santa Catalina and Tortolita mountains to the north, the Rincon Mountains to the east, the Tucson Mountains to the west, and the Santa Rita Mountains to the south, where Mount Wrightson reaches the highest regional elevation. The dry bed of the Santa Cruz River traverses the city, occasionally flooding during heavy seasonal rainstorms.

Human activity in the area dates back thousands of years to early agricultural communities along the Santa Cruz floodplain, followed by the Hohokam culture, which built extensive irrigation canals. Spanish involvement began in the late seventeenth century, leading to the construction of Mission San Xavier del Bac and later the Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón military fort in 1775. After becoming part of independent Mexico, the territory was acquired by the United States through the Gadsden Purchase in the 1850s. Tucson served as the capital of the Arizona Territory from 1867 to 1877 and holds the distinction of being Arizona's oldest incorporated city.

The name Tucson originates from an O'odham term translated as the black base, referring to the dark basalt on nearby Sentinel Peak. Historically known as the Old Pueblo, the city experienced a colorful late nineteenth century characterized by stagecoach mail routes, military activity at Fort Lowell, and notable frontier gunfights. Educational and health sectors shaped its subsequent growth; the University of Arizona was established here in 1885, and the city's high altitude and dry, clear air attracted individuals seeking respiratory treatment during the early twentieth century.

Today, Tucson forms a major urban hub in the Arizona Sun Corridor alongside nearby communities such as Oro Valley, Marana, and Sahuarita. Recognized by UNESCO as a City of Gastronomy, the region is also called Optics Valley due to its international prominence in optical research and telescope technology. Major travel routes include Interstate 10, which connects the city northwest to Phoenix and southeast toward Texas, and Interstate 19, which leads south toward the United States–Mexico border using kilometer markers instead of miles.