Exploring Around Benson, AZ – Our 2023 Southeast Arizona / Tucson Adventures

One of the many reasons we picked SKP Saguaro Co-Op RV Park as our nomadic port to store Zephyr and return to in winters – is the location in Benson, AZ is convenient to so much to explore.

It’s about an hour from Tucson. In the past we’ve explored nearby Kartchner Caverns, Patagonia State Park, Chiricahua National Monument, Forever Home Donkey Rescue, Saguaro National Park, Bisbee, Willcox, Tombstone, Sierra Vista and much more.

Check all our past Benson, AZ posts

We just wrapped up another season in Benson, this time with our buddies Amanda & Jesse as neighbors. Since they have a truck for hauling us all around, we had the opportunity to adventure even more than usual. So we embraced it!

Before we hit the road back east wrapping up our 2023 stay in Benson, we we filmed a quick video sharing some of the places we visited that you might like to add to your own list.

The Adventures

First.. a map to give you a lay of the land and where these places are in relation to Benson:

Benson, AZ – Itself

As SKP Saguaro RV Park is not in reasonable walking distance to the town of Benson itself – in year’s past we’ve not spent much time exploring. We typically do our grocery shopping or dining, and that’s it.

This visit, we changed that and partook of the town’s holiday festivities. And we joined up with our friends for an Adventure Labs (a great scavenger hunt type app for exploring new places) pursuit that took us around admiring many of the town’s amazing murals.

And on that adventure, we ended up at the Benson Visitor’s Center – where Chris was like a kid in a candy store (there was an actual candy store across the street) when he discovered they have a model train track in the ceiling with a life-size control center.

The docent offered to let him pilot the train, and he even earned an engineer’s certificate.

Catalina State Park

We’ve stayed at Catalina State Park on the north side of Tucson before, but in the overflow lot. So when we came across an organized Everyone Runs trail run at the park – we signed up!

And it was awesome serendipity that there was an open spot in the main campground the night before, which made the early start to the 10.6 mile run through the hiking trails much more palatable.

We had a lovely visit to the park, and then had an amazing morning run.

Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley

Towering over Tucson is Mt. Lemmon featuring the southern most ski area in the US. Usually there’s only enough snow for actual skiing a few week out of the year however.

But the drive up is stunningly beautiful as you ascend through various mountain ecosystems. And at the top, when there’s not snow for skiing – you can buy a ticket on the ski lift for even more stunning views.

It’s also a great way to escape the heat of the desert valley – sometimes 20-30 degrees cooler up there. On our visit in early November temperatures were peaking in the 90s, so it was a pleasant relief.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

To the west of Tucson you’ll find the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum – which we’ve somehow managed to avoid visiting thus far. We fixed that this visit.

It’s a wonderful experience for anyone newer to the area, as it features a lot of the landscape and wildlife in the area. However on our visit, many of the animals were not on display – and after years of being in the area, we’re already quite familiar with the desert flora.

However, the raptor free flight exhibit was amazing – with birds flying just inches overhead. Some even walking on our feet.

Whitewater Draw Wildlife Refuge

For years we’ve been asked if we’ve gone and seen the cranes? Sandhill Cranes.. thousands of them.. in Arizona? What?

We mistakingly had it in our minds that this was an early morning spring time adventure, but we were recently corrected.

The migrating cranes arrive in October and stick around through March – and there are several peak times of day to view them flying and landing.

So when our friends proposed a visit to Bisbee, we countered with making a detour out to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Refuge on the way.

And it was an amazing experience we all enjoyed. The cranes were abundant, and the trail gives you lots of opportunity to just take a moment and watch & listen. There is boondocking available in the park as well.

We ended the day roaming around Bisbee (a must visit, in our opinion) for some holiday shopping and lunch.

Blakely Ranch & Las Cienegus National Conservation Area

Long time follower Terri contacted us when we arrived in Benson this visit – she was workamping at nearby Blakely Ranch in Sonoita and offered us a horseback trail ride with owner Tami.

Sure.. sounds fun!

But Blakely Ranch is not just a horseback ride experience – it’s a center focused on personal development around intuitive Equine Facilitated Learning. For Tami had experienced healing through some of her own life trauma by interacting with her horses.

Her mission is to bring that experience to others surrounded by the wild Arizona desert.

We arrived, loaded up our horses and Tami & Terri took us out to nearby Las Cienegus National Conservation Area for a bushwhacking trail ride adventure. It was absolutely amazing to have a private led ride with no signs of human structures in sight.

Such a wonderful experience!

Kachina Mineral Hotsprings & Spa

We’ve been on a hot springs kick lately in our travels, and our friends expressed interest in a soak. So I set off on some research and found some options north of Willcox in Safford.

We all booked couples massages and soaks at Kachina Mineral Springs Spa. The experience starts with a soak in a private tub, then a massage followed by another soak.  A wonderful way to loosen up and relax.

The only downside is it’s a good 1.5 hour drive from Benson – which negates some of the relaxation.

But we did stop in Willcox for some viticulture exploring (that means ‘wine tasting’) on the way back.

Hiking at Saguaro National Park

We visited Saguaro National Park on our last stay in the area when my mom came for a visit. It’s lovely to drive through. The park surrounds Tucson on the east and west sides, and is bustling with saguaro cactus.

This time, we went with our friends, with a focus on hiking. We selected the Loma Verde trail on the east side of the park- which was an easy and beautiful 3.8 miles.

Afterwards, we all indulged in lunch at a food truck court – trying a Sonoran Hot Dog, and some most excellent sushi (there’s no sushi in Benson!).

Titan Missile Museum

Over in Green Valley, just south of Tucson, is the only fully preserved Titan Missile Silo. It’s a one of kind experience to tour the last remaining of these 54 Cold War era deterrents.

So we had to go to the Titan Missile Museum. It’s free to tour the outdoors, but taking the reasonably priced tour underground is so worth it (highly recommend booking online – we saw several walk-ins turned away). The silo even has a de-activated missile in it to show just what it looked like back in the day.

It’s a sobering experience, to say the least.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to a winery in Vail (there’s a lot of wineries in the area).

Tucson Loop Biking

Tucson has one of the best biking paths around – The Tucson Loop, so we loaded up the bikes one afternoon for a ride and lunch. The trails are well maintained, scenic and go on for miles.

We only had time for about 20 miles, but it left us wanting more. Something to save for future visits (when hopefully we have our new eBikes!).

Colossal Cave

Do we have time for one more adventure? Sure! Let’s squeeze it in.

With our many drives along I-10 into Tucson, you can’t miss the signs for Colossal Cave. This was formerly a more commercially run cave that has been under the protection of the state & county to preserve. In its former commercial life, it was subject to a lot of encouraged vandalization.

It’s a stark contrast to nearby Kartchner Caverns – which was purposely protected until it could be opened for responsible touring.

It’s still a lovely experience, but if you only have time for one cave while in the area – go to Kartchner.

Whew

That’s a lot of adventuring for just 2 months in Benson! And we had so much fun sharing it with our buddies Amanda & Jesse (and Paul!).

If you have recommendations for other stuff to explore on our future visits to Benson – let us know in the comments!

And that’s a wrap of our season in Arizona.

In real time, we’ve been back aboard Y-Not in Florida for a few weeks. And it’s been non-stop busy. We’ll get you caught up on the trip back, and what we’ve been up to later.