Outdoor Recreation
With a mild year round climate Tombstone is the perfect place to enjoy the great outdoors! Besides our own wide open spaces, perfect for exploring, we have magical neighboring places to explore, most within a short 30 minute drive! Ghost towns, canyon hiking, mountain biking, rockhounding, birding, horseback riding, lakes, Jeep Tours and fishing just to name a few ways to enjoy Mother Nature's bounties!
Birding
In Southeastern Arizona, elevation and climate rule. Geologic forces have created lush green mountain ranges called "sky Islands," surronded by arid deserts and grasslands. Four distinct regions and their plants and animals converge in the area. Here is where the Rocky Moutains meet Mexico's Sierra Madre, where Sonoran Desert meets Chichuahuan Desert, and where a major migration corridor fills riparian woodlands with song and color in spring. Rainfall averages 12 inchs per year for the entire area but varies widely with elevation, as do temperatures. The resulting mixture produces one of the richest regions of bird diversity on the continent, with more than 500 species recorded. Birding festivals in the area include: Wings Over Willcox held each January, Fiesta de las Aves takes place in May in Bisbee and Southwest Wings occurs in August. More information can be found at the Cochise County Tourism Council website, Arizona Game & Fish Department or Bureau of Land Management.
For an excellent map, with beautiful artwork showing 52 birding areas in Southeastern Arizona please stop in at the Tombstone Visitors Center or call the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce at (888) 457-3929. Cost is $3.00.
Ghost Towns and Mining Camps
Besides visiting Tombstone the next best thing to step back into the bygone days of the Old West is by touring Arizona's ghost towns and mining camps. Once you have seen all the museums, gunfights, Wild West Shows, taken a stage coach and trolley tour of Tombstone and have begun to slow down from the hectic pace of contemporary life, you start to feel more and more at home among the memories of an earlier time.
The most complete Ghost Town in the area is "Fairbank", a short 20 minute drive from Tombstone!
