Everyone-friendly Tucson

Ask a long-term LGBT resident of Tucson which bars and hotels are gay-friendly and they might bristle with good humor while telling you that such designations aren’t really useful in their city, since everyone is warmly welcomed.

Agreeing, many visitors to this bastion of Southwestern culture and Arizona desert beauty find Tucson to be a blue oasis in an otherwise red state. With two Pride parades every year to boot — a national nod in June and another in October for Tucson Pride Month — the city’s liberal leanings seem to be in good, sun-tanned health.

Tucson does its tidiest trade between October and April, when winter chills settle into most other places and the city fills with travelers defrosting in the almost permanently tan-worthy weather. LGBTQ folks, also drawn by the city’s October Pride Month and Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, make it a busy month for the gay-owned bed-and-breakfasts, so reservations in advance are recommended. For those who like a Continental accent, summers find Tucson brimming with queer Europeans.

SLEEP

Though local accommodations frequently do not broadcast the fact, Tucson has a higher gay-friendliness baseline than many other Southwestern cities — queer couples are welcomed in most places, but here are few sure bets.

At the gay-owned Catalina Park Inn (309 E. 1st St; 800-792-488; www.CatalinaParkInn.com) occasional homemade lemon ricotta pancakes and shaded, private cactus gardens go a long way in creating a comfortable camaraderie between guests. The 1927 building (which is blanketed in wireless internet) is a short walk from the University of Arizona campus.

In downtown’s center, the gay-owned Royal Elizabeth Bed and Breakfast (204 S. Scott Ave; 877-670-9022; www.RoyalElizabeth.com) is a 19th-century Victorian mansion with period furnishings to match. The owners prepare delightful local fruit ensembles every day for breakfast, and the accompanying greenery-lined pool is luxuriously secluded.

Nestled in the upscale Catalina Foothills just outside the city bustle, gay-friendly Casa Luna (4210 N. Saranac Dr; 888-482-7925; www.Casa-Luna.com) makes outdoorsy stuff like hiking, national parks, local wineries and amateur spelunking easily accessible. Of course, you could also just enjoy the poolside view and ponder which spa treatment best follows a late night downtown.

EAT

Deep couches, tasty snacks and free wi-fi are enticing, as is the fine local coffee, but all may still be second to ogling the fine local LGBT folk from the sunny, bamboo-sheltered patio of The Rainbow Planet Coffee House (606 N. 4th Ave; 520-620-1770; www.ThePlanetCoffeeHouse.com).

Nearby, Cafe Poca Cosa (110 E. Pennington St.; 520-622-6400) attracts a devoted — and often queer — following with its inventive mole sauces and alchemic blends of chilies and spices. The menu may change daily, depending on what the owner/chef selects from the morning markets, but reservations are always recommended.

On weekdays, the gay-owned Colors Food and Spirits (5305 E. Speedway; 520-323-1840; www.ColorsTucson.com) serves up standard American fare, doubling after hours as one of the friendliest piano bars in town. Sunday Champagne brunch is also a long-standing tradition at this neighborhood-style eatery.

PLAY/MEET

Tucson’s LGBT community may be well integrated into city nightlife, with most neighborhoods having heavily gay-trafficked spots, but here are a few watering holes frequented by a good concentration of queer folks.

Spinning hip-hop, Latin beats and a few love-to-hate-it pop classics alongside some of the best drag acts in town, Ain’t Nobody’s Biz (2900 E. Broadway Blvd; 520-318-4838; www.TheBizTuc.com), often just called “The Biz,” is probably Tucson’s best-established LGBT dance club — and the only one with a weekly video game night.

The club at downtown’s historic Hotel Congress (311 E. Congress St; 800-722-8848; www.HotelCongress.com) also gets a pretty queer crowd, especially on Mondays when they dust off for ’80s night. Revelers can often be found sopping up the wee hours with goat cheese and artichoke crostini at the hotel’s late-night cafe.

Venture-N (1239 N. 6th Ave; 520-882-8224), a few blocks away, attracts a steady supply of gay men with its outdoor gazebos.

Outside downtown, Woody’s bar is known for events like gay volleyball, while Howl at the Moon (915 W. Prince Rd; 520-293-7339; www.HowlAtTheMoonTucson.com) is beloved of country-dancing folk who appreciate a long beer menu.

SEE/DO

There are malls and Southwestern craft shops aplenty in Tucson, but most visitors like to take in a day trip and lose themselves in Arizona’s wellspring of unique natural beauty.

Just outside the city, Saguaro National Park (Old Spanish Trail; 520-733-5153; www.nps.gov/sagu) — named for the iconic giant cactus — is a hiking universe with delicious views, bizarre desert creatures and strikingly bright flora. Adventurers are just about guaranteed exclusive blazing experience on the massive 165 miles of trails.

Twenty minutes away, the Biosphere 2 (Biosphere 2 Rd; 520-838-6200; www.B2Science.org) project offers daily tours of the unique, three-acre self-contained ecosystem that made headlines in the 1990s when a few lucky people lived in it for years to demonstrate the possibility of space colonization. It can be like wandering around a lush sci-fi movie set — only stranger, because it’s real.

If “activity” per se is off your map, just an hour outside of Tucson lie some of Arizona’s best vineyards. The wines from Callahan Vineyards (336 Elgin Rd., Elgin, AZ; 520-455-5322; www.CallaghanVineyards.com) are ranked particularly high for the region by wine guides.

MORE INFO

Wingspan, Tucson’s LGBTQ Center (425 E. 7th St; 520-624-1779; www.WingSpan.org) compiles a handy calendar of the city’s queer goings-on, from clubs to group meetings. With its list of gay-owned and -friendly businesses, the Tucson GLBT Chamber of Commerce (P.O. Box 14312; 520-615-6436; www.TucsonGlbtChamber.org) can also be a helpful resource.

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Arizona Resorts/ Arizona Travel Deals / Arizona Golf / Spas in AZ

Tuck into Tucson AZ

The aroma of the farmers market at St. Philip’s Plaza ranges from roasted corn to fresh tamales to blazing-hot chili peppers. Yet as I strolled among the booths selling emu oil, lentil soup and handmade soaps, it was another, more familiar scent that alerted me.

Following my nose like Yogi Bear seeking out a picnic basket, I found the smiling face of Rodney George under a huge banner proclaiming his offerings: “Original Kansas City Barbecue.”

“Even here in the southwest, people know that Kansas City barbecue is something special,” George said.

A Wyandotte County native who once worked for Kansas City barbecue magnate Ollie Gates, George and his wife, Dee, moved to Tucson in 1990 to help care for his aging parents, who had retired there.

Rod’s KC Barbeque was voted best barbecue in the city by readers of local publications for several years. Just don’t expect to find burnt ends when eating “original Kansas City Barbecue” in Tucson.

“I’ve tried to offer burnt ends a couple of times, but the culture here just doesn’t get it,” George said. “You have to go with what will sell.”

What sells well in the Southwest, besides sliced beef sandwiches with a Kansas City-style sauce, and sweet potato pie, is a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on top, a nod to George’s family in Tennessee and the Carolinas. He also sells smoked salmon, catfish and trout, and he finds business at two popular farmers markets so good that his downtown restaurant is open only two days a week.

Still, George hopes to return to the Kansas City area in his retirement years. That’s a decidedly backward twist on how most people end up in Tucson. A list of the most popular places to retire, reported last year by Where to Retire magazine, ranked Tucson No. 9. (Phoenix was No. 1.)

But it would be a huge mistake to think that Tucson is just for retirees. This metro area of 1 million people, 75 miles north of the Mexican border, is an active community. Cooking Light Magazine included it last year among the top 10 healthiest cities in the country, in part because of the many outdoor activities available.

Spring is a perfect time to explore Tucson. The Arizona skies are a cloudless blue, and temperatures are in the 80s.

Golfers and snowbirds descend from around the country, stretching their cold, achy muscles on one of 75 regional golf courses. Besides the simple pleasure of warm weather, golfing in the Arizona desert is a delight for the senses as courses wind among mesquite trees, towering cacti and stark mountain backdrops.

Tucson is also a great city for bicyclists. Consistently ranked one of the top five bicycling cities in the country by Bicycling magazine, Tucson has more than 325 miles of well-marked bike lanes and trails. The most popular trail is the two-lane asphalt Rillito River Park Trail, which winds 11 miles on the north side of the mostly dry riverbed and provides easy access to parks, shopping areas and public services.

It’s also not uncommon to see individuals and families crisscrossing the city on horseback on great trails. The spaciousness of the city and its suburbs allows for numerous private and public stables.

Tucson Mountain Park, just east of the city, is filled with equestrian and hiking trails that meander through one of the world’s largest saguaro cactus forests. The Sonoran Desert is the only place on Earth where these towering, multi-armed cacti grow, living as long as 200 years as they slowly reach heights of 50 feet or more. Saguaro National Park, celebrating 75 years this year, protects cacti in preserves on the east and west sides of Tucson. The saguaro blooms in the spring and is the official flower of Arizona.

Thanks to above-average rainfall this winter, the desert is reported to be greener than usual, and wildflowers are expected to bloom in greater numbers this spring. One of the best places to explore those wildflowers is at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, just east of Tucson Mountain Park.

Home to 300 creatures and more than 1,200 species of plants, the museum is designed to help those of us who aren’t familiar with desert life to see the beauty in things like prickly cacti, rattlesnakes and smelly critters such as the javelina.

It’s a combination zoo, botanical garden and natural history museum tucked into 21 acres of nearly pristine Sonoran Desert. Especially popular are the mountain lions, the official symbol of the museum and charismatic critters that enjoy the spotlight, as well as sunning themselves in the Arizona sun. The hummingbird aviary is equally popular, although the energy those tiny winged creatures exert in the search for nectar is much more tiring to watch than the big cats’ playful antics.

As much fun as Tucson is during the day, it becomes more intriguing at night. With cloudless skies an average of 350 days a year, Tucson is considered one of the best stargazing cities in the country.

About 60 miles southwest of Tucson is Kitt Peak National Observatory, where dozens of research institutions from around the world have scientists at work. Visitors are welcome for day and evening tours.

Several hotels and inns make telescopes available to guests. One of the best public facilities is the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, which offers Monday evening lecture programs.

Tucson is a locally mandated low-light city, and that increases the brilliance of a starry night sky. So make plans to take a walk in the late evening or sit quietly on your hotel balcony enjoying the beauty and stillness of the night sky.

If the wind is right, you may even catch a whiff of Kansas City barbecue.

Getting there

Tucson is in southern Arizona, about 1,400 miles from Kansas City. Round-trip, restricted airfare between Kansas City and Tucson recently ran from about $165.

What to see

•Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road. Hours and admission vary seasonally. Through June 1, admission is $13 for adults, $4.25 for children 6-12, free for children younger than 12. 520- 883-1380, desertmuseum.org.

•Tucson Mountain Park, west of Tucson and south of Saguaro National Park West. Open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. 520-877-6000, www.pima.gov/nrpr/ places/tucs_mtpk/index .htm.

•Kitt Peak National Observatory, 56 miles southwest of Tucson. Open 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m. daily. Nighttime observation $39 a person; reservations required. 520-318-8000, www.noao.edu/kpno.

•Steward Observatory at University of Arizona, 527 National Champion Drive. Public tours vary according to class schedules. 520-621-1022, mirrorlab.as.arizona.edu.

Where to stay

•Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive. From $319 double occupancy. 520-299-2020, loewshotels.com.

•Sam Hughes Inn, 2020 E. Seventh St. $85-$125 double through May 31. 520-861-2191, samhughesinn.com.

•Adobe Rose Inn, 940 N. Olsen Ave. $125-$190 double through May 31. 800-328-4122, aroseinn.com.

Where to eat

•Rod’s KC Barbeque, 601 N. Fourth Ave. Sliced beef sandwich costs $6, but Rod’s also is known for its peach cobbler, $2.95. Open 12:30-6 p.m. Thursday-Friday. Also at the Oro Valley Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday; St. Philip’s Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday. 520-623-0182.

•El Charro Café, 911 N. Court St. Grand-size Carne Seca Chimi is $19.95 and will feed the family. 520-622-1922, elcharrocafe.com.

•Zivaz Mexican Bistro, 4590 E. Broadway, offers a twist to typical Mexican fare with pescado ajillo for $11.95 or tofu fajitas, $9.95. 520-325-1234, zivaz.com.

Arizona Resorts/ Arizona Travel Deals / Arizona Golf / Spas in AZ

NO question — we were way off the beaten path.

Sasabe, AZ., has a population of about 30 and a general store that includes a bar.

The rutted dirt road we had been creeping along in southern Arizona near the Mexican border — the perfect setting for some over-the-top S.U.V. commercial — suddenly vanished into a murky creek. Skeptical that our rented sedan could slosh through, we used a stick to test the water’s depth before inching across.

Then, our amateur fording complete, a United States Border Patrol helicopter that we had noticed earlier in the distance suddenly swooped out of the sky and hovered in front of us. We felt as if we had just become characters in some cut-rate thriller.

The pilot and a spotter with binoculars were clearly visible through our windshield. When they finally lost interest in us, after a quarter-mile or so, the helicopter thump-thumped away toward the border, just a couple of miles south. A bit shaken but determined, we pushed on, heading east toward a paved road that would take us back to Interstate 19 and Nogales.

An Indianapolis friend, Richard Beach, and I were on this backcountry road as part of a trip to explore some of the smaller towns on either side of the 70-mile I-19 corridor between Tucson and the Mexican border.

Most tourists driving south out of Tucson stop at a strikingly designed Native American casino, a couple of Spanish Colonial Mission churches, or the arts and crafts center in Tubac. Many are going to Nogales, where they can park and then walk across the border for a day trip to Nogales, Mexico.

For the more adventurous, though, there are any number of tiny, funky towns surrounded by a visual feast of high desert, mountains and rolling grasslands. Then there’s the region’s vibe, its strangely attractive desolation. There are ghost towns, and living towns that seem to be on their way to becoming ghost towns. It’s a place for lovers of deserts who crave the yelp of coyotes at night, a fading hippie haven that serves up stirring vistas of a kind of Southwestern heaven.

Our journey started in Green Valley, about 25 miles south of Tucson, and snaked through towns like Arivaca, Sasabe, Nogales, Patagonia and Sonoita. Along the way, we took in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and the Madera Canyon Recreational Area, and crossed the Santa Rita Mountains. Total distance traveled: 212 miles.

The entire loop can be driven in a day if you don’t linger. But the region is full of hiking trails and other temptations like bird watching and bar-hopping. Plus, a more relaxed two- or three-day trip allows time to hang out at the local coffee shop or general store and meet the people who give these towns their quirks, charm and funk.

One warning: The border area of southern Arizona is ground zero for drug smuggling and illegal immigration. Many back roads, especially near Arivaca, should be avoided after dark. It’s also open range country, so watch out for wandering cattle.

Arivaca, with its rustic wooden buildings and commercial emphasis on ceramics, art, yoga, meditation and herbal remedies, is like traveling back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, except the hippies are grayer and heavier. During those years, Arivaca was discovered by the counterculture, some of whom established a nearby community called California Gulch. Many later moved into town and stayed on. About 1,200 people now live in and around Arivaca.

Mary Noon Kasulaitis is a local historian and the librarian at the Caviglia-Arivaca Library; she has deep roots in Arivaca. Her family arrived during the 1870s silver-mining boom; her great-grandfather was a local doctor and prospector.

“The hippies came here in the ’60s and early ’70s because it was a pleasant, warm place — and isolated,” she said. “By buying up mining claims, which many of them did in California Gulch, you could get cheap private land protected by national forest land. Isolation, self-reliance, anonymity and peace — that was what they came for. Those who stayed are now the mainstays of the community.”

One who stayed was Jeanne Ferris, the associate librarian. Her first son was born in a tepee in California Gulch. “I was part of the antiwar movement,” she said, “and wanted to do something different.”

Another was Tom Shook, who runs the Gadsden Coffee Company on the eastern edge of town. He roasts and sells about 1,000 pounds of coffee beans a week. He came to live in California Gulch in the early 1970s after organizing chapters of Students for a Democratic Society in Texas and Oklahoma and later selling flowers in Tucson. He is a Libertarian and a Tibetan Buddhist. He ran for state mining inspector on the Libertarian ticket in 1982, getting 5 percent of the vote.

“Arivaca is a place where you can do your own thing with no interference from others,” Mr. Shook said, stroking his long, ZZ Top-style beard. “I don’t look back; I live in the present. Hell, I never thought I’d make it to 30. It’s a real thrill to be looking at 60.”

FROM Arivaca to Sasabe, the road cuts through the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, which is well worth a stop. The refuge has a permanent herd of about 60 pronghorn antelope and is popular with bird watchers and hikers. The refuge also operates the Arivaca Cienega, on the east side of Arivaca. It’s a rare desert wetland — featuring a two-mile handicap-accessible trail — fed by a spring that makes it a haven for migratory birds; it also attracts local critters like coyotes and deer.

Sasabe is an eye blink of a town of about 30 residents, with a post office and a general store that sells everything from gasoline to clothes to shots of tequila — there’s a bar in the back room. The town is also the site of one of the smallest border-crossing facilities. Some 150 cars come through each day, and the crossing is closed at night.

As you backtrack to Arivaca, heading for the Interstate and Patagonia, you may be tempted to take what looks on the map like a shortcut to Nogales. It’s called Ruby Road and runs southeast out of Arivaca past California Gulch and Ruby, one of the best-preserved ghost towns in Arizona. The town came into being with the mining boom of the 1870s and had a population of about 1,200 at its peak in 1930, when its mines were producing gold, silver, lead and zinc; it was abandoned in the 1940s.

Despite the temptation, avoid Ruby Road unless you have a high-clearance vehicle or an S.U.V. — and the weather is dry. It is no shortcut timewise, though it runs through stunning reaches of the Coronado National Forest. It was where we had to test the creek and said hello to our buddies in the Border Patrol helicopter.

Patagonia is an old mining and railroad town of about 900 — the train station has been transformed into a town hall — that is a bit more trendy and accessible than some others of these towns. With a well-run visitors center, it takes extra steps to cater to tourists and welcome retirees.

Don’t miss the Wagon Wheel Saloon, a popular late-afternoon gathering place whose walls have no shortage of antlers, horseshoes and vintage firearms. It’s a spot that’s agreeable to the novelist and poet Jim Harrison, who has maintained a winter home in Patagonia for 17 years. Mr. Harrison, whose works include “Legends of the Fall” and “The Shape of the Journey,” his collected poems, was taking an afternoon break from editing the proofs of his new novel, “The English Major,” which is scheduled to be published in October.

MR. Harrison says he likes Patagonia because of its sparse population and proximity to Mexico. “I first came through here in 1970 when I was reading poems on Indian reservations through a National Endowment for the Arts program,” he said. “I liked the area, and thought if I ever had the wherewithal to have a second home, this would be it. Both here and in Montana, where I live in the warm months, I can’t see any neighbors. So I don’t have to think about the population explosion. And I like Latino culture.”

Mr. Harrison is a legendary eater and drinker who manages to keep up that tradition in Patagonia. “I don’t suffer for lack of good food out here,” he added as he downed icy vodka. “I’m a cook myself.” He orders specialty foods via FedEx and every two weeks drives up to Tucson for what he can’t get locally.

From Patagonia, it’s an easy high-country, open-sky drive to Sonoita, an affluent region full of ranches and retirement homes that sit on lots as big as small farms. There’s also a network of wineries complete with wine-tasting rooms. Southern Arizona’s best wines tend to be from varieties of grapes that grow in the Mediterranean region, especially grenache, mourvèdre and tempranillo.

Then it’s over the mountains on Box Canyon Road — unpaved but civilized — to Madera Canyon Recreational Area, one of the best bird-watching spots in America for both its resident and migratory species. Visitors come to catch glimpses of elegant trogons, elf owls, sulfur-bellied flycatchers and painted redstarts.

If you’re not up to clambering over steep trails looking for birds, there’s a big feeding station with nearby benches. Just sit still, and many of the birds will come to you — kind of like the Border Patrol helicopter that came to us.

VISITOR INFORMATION

YOU seldom need specific street addresses and directions in these small southern Arizona towns. Most places stand out in an obvious way and sit on one of the few streets in town. It is, however, a good idea to call ahead; posted hours are sometimes more goal than reality.

If you use Green Valley as a base, there is a Holiday Inn Express (520-625-0900) at Exit 69 off Interstate 19, as well as a Best Western (520-625-2250) and a Baymont Inns and Suites (520-399-3736) at Exit 65. The Holiday Inn’s rates for a double begin at $96 with advance booking; Best Western’s begin at $79.95; Baymont’s rates begin at $99.

In Patagonia, the Duquesne House (357 Duquesne Avenue; 520-394-2732) is a well-regarded bed-and-breakfast. A former rooming house for miners, built in 1898, its rooms are $125 a night and include breakfast. The Patagonia Visitors Information Center (888-794-0060) on McKeown Avenue can help you find lodging.

For those with vehicles that can handle the Ruby Road and who want to visit the ghost town of Ruby, it’s best to call in advance (520-744-4471) for hours of operation. There is a caretaker and a $12 entrance fee.

The Gadsden Coffee Company (520-398-3251; www.gadsdencoffee.com) in Arivaca is a local hangout where you can also get sandwiches and pastries.

Shelby’s Bistro (520-398-8075) in Tubac is a popular spot for lunch (every day) and dinner (Wednesday through Saturday) with a Southwestern flair. Lunch entrees are $9 to $18 and dinner entrees are $9 to $33. Signature dishes include Southwest bouillabaisse and lavender-rubbed grilled chicken breast stuffed with Gorgonzola.

Another popular place to eat is the Longhorn Grill (520-398-3955) in Amado at the Arivaca Road exit of I-19. The entrance is through a giant Texas longhorn’s skull. Open every day, the Longhorn’s prices are moderate, with lunch entrees from $8 to $10 and dinner entrees from $12 to $19. The owner describes the fare — steaks, as well as Mexican and Italian dishes — as “spaghetti western.”

For wine tasters, a good place to start is Dos Cabezas Wine Works (3248 Highway 82; 520-455-5141; www.doscabezaswinery.com) in Sonoita. For $5, you get a glass and a taste of six wines. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 7, 2008

An Inside the Times summary on Friday of an Escapes article about off-the-beaten-path attractions south of Tucson toward the Mexican border misidentified the Interstate near the attractions. As the article noted, it is I-19 — not I-90 (which may have its own attractions, but they would be found between Boston and Seattle).

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Arizona Resorts/ Arizona Travel Deals / Arizona Golf / Spas in AZ

Is there any stretch of highway more heavily used, more familiar, more boring than the stretch of Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson? Oh, there are some interesting points along the way, but by the time you’ve made the drive a dozen times, it becomes the very definition of tedium. For something different, as well as a glimpse of Arizona before the era of interstate highways, try the “back way”: Arizona 79. Much of the drive takes you through scrub desert, but there are sights both historic and prehistoric along the way. And it’s an easy drive in any vehicle. Things to note along the way:

McFarland State Historic Park: This old adobe building in Florence has seen a lot of history in its 130 years. As the first Pinal County Courthouse, it once held the sheriff’s office, courtroom, judge’s chambers and jail. In 1888, vigilantes stormed the jail and hanged a couple of prisoners. In later years, it served as the county hospital, a public-health center and a museum.

Tom Mix Monument: Mix, Hollywood’s first Western superstar, appeared in more than 300 movies. Married five times, the hard-drinking, fast-living cowboy was on his way to Florence when he crashed his yellow Cord Phaeton near this desolate spot in 1940 and died almost instantly. The original Mix memorial, built in 1947, was topped by an iron statue of his favorite steed, Tony the Wonder Horse. The statue was stolen in 1980, replaced, stolen again in 1989 and again replaced.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument: About 700 years ago, the Hohokam built this four-story, 11-room structure. Father Eusebio Kino dubbed it “Casa Grande” in 1694, describing it ” . . . as large as a castle, equal to the largest church in these lands of Sonora.”

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