Tucson’s Year-Round Tourist Treats

The morning in early summer was aglow with the desert sunshine of southern Arizona. And when my wife and I got out of our car we put on our sweaters.

We had just driven up to the village of Summerhaven on Mt. Lemmon in the “Canadian life zone” at about 8,000 feet above Tucson, and we had already discovered other summer havens at lower altitudes around what is now presenting itself to the travel world as “the new all-year Tucson--a secret no longer.”

Over a sip of champagne the previous evening, John Thacker, the creative young general manager of Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, had with a touch of whimsy put the new Tucson into focus for us.

“Wouldn’t it be a great idea,” he mused, “if all the desert resorts around Tucson would raise instead of lower their rates this summer?” Then he answered his own question: “It won’t happen, of course, but it would certainly tell the world how much Tucson has come of age as an all-year destination.”

Along with other resorts, hotels, inns and guest ranches around Tucson, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort has again dropped its summer rates. From May 23 to Sept. 13, doubles start at $75 in the setting of a Lakeside Spa and Tennis Club, 27 holes of golf, two pools, nature trails and a parcourse track. The high-season rate, Jan. 15 to May 22, was $155.

Such reductions as these are enhancing the summer attractions of Tucson.

Winter-Season Guests

The climate, sports, cultural, historic and scenic attractions of this city 60 miles north of Mexico have long drawn the winter-season “snowbirds” from throughout the United States and many other nations to its hotels, guest ranches and condominiums. Guest ranches such as Tanque Verde, which was a working ranch back in the 1880s, have become total resorts and spas.

Now Loews Ventana Canyon beneath the mountain rim of the city is one of several luxury resorts and spas helping to create a new all-year image for what is ranked as the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States.

The Tucson National Resort and Spa opened in January, representing an $18-million expansion of the famed Tucson National Golf Club and its many resort facilities.

In February the new Westin La Paloma golf, tennis and health resort added still another dimension to metropolitan Tucson as a year-around destination.

Like Loews, the Sheraton Tucson El Conquistador was already established as a resort complex for golfers, tennis players, sunbathers and fitness buffs.

Mayor Lewis C. Murphy, serving a fourth term in office, owes much of his popularity to a “firmly flexible” policy for establishing year-around tourism as the No. 1 economic resource in this Sun Belt city that has close to 600,000 people in its metropolitan area and is growing at about 2,000 a month.

‘A Vital Complex’

“We have the University of Arizona, a vital complex of light industries and government institutions like the Air Force base,” he said, “but the underpinning of our economy is the visitors who come here, and we’ve started a campaign to keep bringing them here every month of the year.”

The recently completed $53-million Tucson International Airport prepares the city for its projected increase in tourism. Fifteen major airlines make about 120 arrivals and departures daily. A representative low air fare between Los Angeles and Tucson this summer is Western’s $98 round-trip advance purchase fare.

During our visit we’ve been playing tennis in the early morning, and enjoying the pools, health spas, golf courses and cultural options of the city at any time of the day, always knowing that we could escape quickly from desert temperatures to the coolness of the five surrounding mountain ranges. The valley cools in the evening by dinner time.

In the summer, midday temperatures in the valley can hover around 98 degrees. Nighttime temperatures average around 70. However, July, August and September can also bring rains to cool the air and water the golf courses. In the Santa Catalina Mountains around Mt. Lemmon, the temperatures are generally 30 degrees cooler.

We’ve carried our skis on winter visits to Tucson for the contrast between the swimming pool and the slopes of Mt. Lemmon, southernmost ski area in the continental United States. Pausing in the middle of a run, we could look across the desert into Mexico.

Bird-Watching Wonders

A summer drive up the mountain replaces snow with wildflowers, whitetail deer nibbling on meadow grasses and more than 40 species of birds, including the broad-tailed hummingbird, Stellar’s jay and the red-tailed hawk.

The two-lane road winds around mountains, canyons, sculptured rock formations and five life zones of growth for 25 miles of one of Earth’s most scenic drives.

On most maps the road is designated as the General Hitchcock Highway in honor of the man who pioneered it. It is also known as the Catalina Highway.

The five life zones span a climate range comparable to traveling from the Mexican border to Canada. Giant saguaro cactus and century plants give way to silverleaf oaks, ponderosa pines, Douglas firs and quaking aspens.

At Geology Vista Point, names such as Duck’s Bill and Natural Bridge are suggested for two of the rock sculptures within view, and you are invited to test your imagination by creating names for the artworks of nature as you travel on. This is some of the best rock climbing in the United States.

Just below San Pedro Vista Point, Rose Canyon Road branches off to Rose Canyon Lake at 7,012 feet. The lake is at the heart of the Rose Canyon hiking, camping and recreation area. The creek bed in Bear Canyon is a temptation to search for semi-precious stones.

Year-Round Ski Lift

The base area of Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley is at 8,200 feet. The ski lift runs all year to its summit at 9,100 feet and some of the most spectacular scenery in the West.

After all this, we took off our sweaters and relaxed in the sunshine on the patio of the Iron Door restaurant near the base of the lift. Its name recalls the mystery of the Lost Mine with the Iron Door, which many believe still hides a fortune in gold somewhere nearby.

Now the restaurant is as well known as its lost namesake. The patio in summer is popular for dining and snacking beneath the quaking aspen leaves, and the dining room with its tablecloths of blue linen is open all year.

About a mile from the ski valley, Mt. Lemmon Alpine Lodge in Summerhaven is also open all year, amid homes tucked among the trees and near a village shop featuring mountain arts and crafts. For $55 a night you can enjoy the king-size bed in the Honeymoon Suite at the lodge.

From here, hiking trails wind out into the Santa Catalina Mountains and Coronado National Forest. Down near the Tucson base of the Santa Catalinas, the route through Sabino Canyon winds under towering cliffs and beside streams crossed by nine small bridges. A tram runs through the canyon every day of the year, with moonlight rides during the summer.

Resorts such as Tucson National and Loews Ventana Canyon link the mountains and the desert throughout the year. Water tumbles down from the Santa Catalinas, over the 80-foot Canyon Waterfall, to a lake at the dramatic entrance to Loews. The 18-station par course fitness circuit follows a nature trail.

Golf Course Views

At Tucson National, each of the 170 villas and suites has a private patio or balcony overlooking the golf course, with the Santa Catalinas as a backdrop. The recently completed spa offers everything from Russian steam baths to facials and herbal wraps.

Within and immediately around Tucson, nearly 75 hotels and inns have reduced their rates for summer. Bed-and-breakfast places are as low as $30 for a double.

The Old Tucson movie location and Western theme park is just as popular with summer visitors as it is with the “snowbirds” of winter. Close by is the Arizona-Sonora Living Museum of the Desert. All the museums and art galleries plan for a busy summer, along with many music, drama and dance productions.

Tucson is also billing itself as the “Mexican Food Capital of the U.S.,” without neglecting to mention a dozen other ethnic cuisines from Italian to Malaysian.

El Mariachi Restaurant y Cantina is the new home of the world-acclaimed International Mariachi America musical group, which was honored last year at the Edinburgh Music Festival in Scotland.

For details about summer in old and new Tucson, contact the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, 450 W. Paseo Redondo, Suite 110, Tucson, Ariz. 85701, phone (602) 604-1817. The Tom Bahti Indian Arts center is at the same address.