Cowboy Steakhouses: No family should visit Arizona without spending an evening at a "genuine" cowboy steakhouse. With false-fronted buildings, country bands, gunslingers, and gimmicks (one place cuts off your necktie, another has a slide from the bar to the dining room), these eateries are all entertainment and loads of fun.
Rawhide at Wild Horse Pass (Phoenix): Your kids can climb atop a mechanical bull, catch a stunt show, watch a real gunslinger, or ride in a stagecoach or train. After all this activity, you'll want to head to Rawhide's steakhouse.
Goldfield Ghost Town (Apache Junction): Although it may look a little too contrived these days, Goldfield really was a mining town at one time. Today, you can take a tour of the old mine, learn about the legend of the Lost Dutchman Mine, and otherwise have a thoroughly Wild West experience.
Grand Canyon Railway: Not only is this train excursion a fun way to get to the Grand Canyon, but it also lets you avoid the parking problems and congestion that can be so wearisome. Shootouts and train robberies are to be expected in this corner of the Wild West.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson): This is actually a zoo featuring the animals of the Sonoran Desert. Exhibits include rooms full of snakes, a prairie-dog town, enclosures that are home to bighorn sheep and mountain lions, and an aviary full of hummingbirds. Kids and adults love this place.
Old Tucson Studios (Tucson): Cowboy shootouts, cancan girls, and horseback rides make this old movie-studio set loads of fun for the family. You might even get to see a movie or commercial being filmed.
Shootouts at the O.K. Corral (Tombstone): Tombstone may be "the town too tough to die," but poor Ike Clanton and his buddies the McLaury boys have to die over and over again at the frequent reenactments of Tombstone's famous gunfight.
Saddling Up on a Dude Ranch: Ride off into the sunset with your family at one of Arizona's many dude ranches (now called guest ranches). Most ranches have lots of special programs for kids.
Floating on a Houseboat: Renting a floating vacation home on lakes Powell, Mead, or Mohave is a summer tradition for many Arizona families. With a houseboat, you aren't tied to one spot and can cruise from one scenic beach to the next.
Lounging by the Pool: While most Arizona resorts are geared primarily toward adults, there are a handful in Phoenix and Tucson that have extensive pool complexes. The kids can play in the sand, shoot down a water slide, or even float down an artificial river in an inner tube.
Having a Grand Vacation: You can spend the better part of a week exploring Grand Canyon National Park, with trails to hike, mules to ride down into the canyon (if your kids are old enough), air tours by plane or helicopter, rafting trips both wild and tame, and even a train ride to and from the canyon.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
