Forum Discussion

Mr__Steve's avatar
Mr__Steve
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015

Bisbee Arizona?

Thinking of heading to Bisbee for a few days, maybe a week, I was wondering is there anything I should be aware of? issues, negatives or positives? Any info appreciated. Thank you.
  • Bisbee is a great place to go see, certainly worth a couple of days. The way we did it was to stay in Tombstone and then took the toad from there. There's a good days worth to see in Tombstone.

    In Bisbee you need to see the Queen Mine. It was one of the last actual mines for copper since the deposits were rich enough for it. They take you inside the mine on one of the little trains the miners rode. Some of the tour guides actually worked in the mine when they were a lot younger.

    Queen Mine Tour

    I think there's only one RV park in Bisbee and it's located right off to the side of the Queen Mine. I'm not too sure you can get a 40' MH in there.

    Bisbee also has the 1000 Great Stair Climb. Bisbee is built in a steep little valley that's been wiped out a couple of times by fires and floods. There are a lot of steps to get up to the residences. So they've made a race covering nine sets of stairs.

    Bisbee Stair Race

    Bisbee has become one of those "quaint little artist towns". A little bit on the expensive side, but lots of neat shops and restaurants - maybe a little pricey, but it's not like you're going to live there full time.

    Also go see the Kartchner Caverns. These have only been open a few years and well worth seeing. There are two caves. Because of the bats migrating, they don't always have both of them open so that you can see both on the same day. You might want to call ahead to check. There's an RV park not to far away.

    Kartchner Caverns

    Bill
  • Rug's avatar
    Rug
    Explorer II
    Yep stay at Tombstone Territories..

    Eat at the Bisbee Breakfast Club. Great Food
    Visit St Patrick's Church to see the painted windows



    Visit Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista.
  • We really enjoyed the mine tour. Be aware that Bisbee is at a higher elevation therefore it will be very cool/cold at this time of year.
  • Another one for Tombstone Territories. Stayed there for the first time this year. Great place. Knowledgeable staff can help plan your activities. Some good hiking and birding along the San Pedro River.

    Don't miss Chiricahua National Monument. Great hiking and scenery. Get there by striking out across the desert north and west of Tombstone. Good county roads. Cochise Stronghold east worth seeing. If you have high ground clearance find the road that dead ends to it on the west. Some great easy high ground clearance roads north and east of Sonata. The Empire Ranch is an old cattle ranch that the BLM is stabilizing and interpreting. It is worth finding.

    Tombstone is a tourist trap in the truest sense of the term. Some nice shops. The only thing free is the air and parking. Courthouse museum is worth seeing but the displays are old and tired.

    Bisbee was a highlight. The Bisbee museum to top shelf. Displays recently redone in conjunction with the Smithsonian. Lot of beautiful old building. Put your walking shoes on. We ate lunch at the Cornucopia on main street. Very small place that specializes in vegetarian. We are not vegheads but the soup and sandwiches on homemade bread were great. The homemade deserts are alone worth the drive. We didn't do the mine tour but have heard good things about it.
  • I enjoy going there in summer during the monsoon season. Frequent afternoon and evening thundershowers. Being from southern CA. love the summer weather there. Some areas get quite green in the summer near Bisbee.

    FWIW there are quite a few border area checkpoints some with dogs to sniff the vehicles passing through. I was waved through without incident but a heads up.
  • We really enjoyed our visit to Bisbee last spring.

    We stayed at Kartchner Caverns State Park, which is an interesting place to visit in itself, and took our toad to Bisbee.