Things to Do Near Fort Huachuca with Kids
We are currently stationed here in southern Arizona and boy it has been quite the adventure! My husband and I had never traveled anything west of Texas (which is HOME) ;) We were super excited to see what desert living was all about. When I think of desert all that I could imagine was cactus and big tumbleweeds! I never thought I’d love it as much as I do. We’re a very outdoorsy family so this place is such a gem. The town and base are small BUT there is a TARGET and HOBBY LOBBY so that keeps my sanity! Here are a couple of things that you HAVE to explore if you’re ever stationed in Fort Huachuca.
Fort Huachuca/Sierra Vista
There are tons and tons of hiking trails to explore around the area especially on Fort Huachuca. Visit Garden Canyon on post and check out the pictograph site. It’s pretty fascinating to see. The trail is great for little legs because it’s all gravel and pretty wide.
Buffalo Soldier Museum- We haven’t checked this gem out yet but we do plan on doing it very soon! I’ve heard so many great things about it.
Hike Reservoir Hill! We park out there to watch the 4th of July fireworks every year we’ve been here.
The Sierra Vista Library is always doing events. They have a story time for babies and toddler twice a week. Great way to meet new people.
Veterans Memorial Park has a great playground for the littles. All the big events are hosted here as well as the year round Farmer’s Market held every Thursday.
Sportsman's Center on post has a nice rang and a gorgeous view of the mountains. It’s pretty cheap to go shoot but it’s only open on the weekends. How lovely is that view?!
Desert Lanes Bowling Alley is pretty cheap and good fun any time of the week. Jeanies Diner located inside has some great and super affordable food. Toddler approved!
Mountain View Golf Course is located right next to post. The name says it all. There are stunning views of the mountains. There is also a nice sandwich shop located on the grounds.
Events are always going on around town and on post. It’s a very small post and small town but we’ve enjoyed our time here. Follow the Fort Huachuca Facebook Page to keep up with all the local events.
Summer time= Monsoon Season. Just about everyday there’s always a nice little afternoon/evening thunderstorms which gives incredible lightening shows, beautiful rainbows, and gorgeous sunsets! This is my favorite season! Get you or your kids some cute rain boots!
Tombstone
Have you ever seen the movie?! Tombstone is super touristy with lots of shops, restaurants and gun shows. We love to eat at Big Nose Kates! My littles love to people watch and now that they can walk we take them there to burn a little energy. Visit one of their ice cream shops, take old time photos, take a ghost tour, take a horse carriage tour of the town, visit their museum (military discount offered here), or take a mine tour. It’s a cool experience even if you just go once.
Bisbee
Eat at the Bisbee Breakfast Club! The little town of Lowell is very old fashioned with vintage cars and perfect for a photo opt. There are plenty of antique shopping to do and a nice little coffee place downtown old historic Bisbee. There are also coal mine tours, visit the lavender pit, take a golf cart tour, eat at one of the delicious eateries downtown.
Tucson
This is the closest big city to Fort Huachuca. We like to visit the Reid Park Zoo. It’s pretty small but perfect to tire our some little legs. Heard great things about the Children's’ Museum and Mini Time Machine museum. They are on our to do list one day. We’ve also visited the Sonora-Desert Museum and Old Tucson. Be sure to go early because it can get hot pretty fast. The drive out near Gate's Pass is absolutely gorgeous. Stop by and catch a gorgeous sunset!
Grand Canyon
Day trip to the Grand Canyon. It’s about 8 hours and we stayed in Phoenix instead of driving from Sierra Vista. Plenty of people stay closer either in Williams or Flagstaff. Military get in free with the National Parks pass. It’s good for one year from the date and they can issue you one right there on the spot if you don’t already have one.
Sedona
Home of the Red Rock and vortexes! We have yet to visit but have only heard amazing things about it. We do plan on going before we leave here!
Patagonia Lake
There’s a nice little man-made beach with a quite a few picnic tables and bbq pits. Get there early because it gets packed pretty quickly. Most people bring a canopy, sand toys for the littles, floaties for the lake, snacks, and bbq food. There also have a great campground that allows RVs and tents. There are a couple of nice trails for bird watching that are very child friendly. This is our favorite spot to go boating! It’s about a 45 minute ride from Fort Huachuca and perfect way to spend a weekend.
Phoenix
It’s about 2.5-3 hours from Fort Huachuca. Phoenix is home for the baseball spring training Cactus League! It’s awesome to be able to see so many MLB teams in one area. There is soooooo much to do in Phoenix and it’s one of our favorite places to go. There’s Legoland Discovery Center and an indoor aquarium at the mall. The aquarium is very small but super affordable with a military discount. We haven’t checked out Legoland. They recently built another aquarium which I heard is amazing. It’s called OdySea. Always great things to do whether is catching a Diamondbacks baseball game, Phoenix Suns basketball game, Arizona Cardinals football game, the HUGE zoo, Ikea, or eating at Main Event, you’ll have a great time. You name it and I’m sure Phoenix has it. Be warned it get HOTTTTTT in the summer.
^^2017 Spring Training @Camelback Ranch
Disneyland
Fort Huachuca is about 8 hours from "The Happinest Place on Earth"!The tickets can be bought on post for super cheap compared to buying them regular price. We went and had a blast! You can’t beat the military discount price for these tickets y’all!
I hope you all enjoy your time here as much as we did! It’s slow living, gorgeous mountain views all around, and very family oriented. Tell me some of your favorite things to do while being stationed at Fort Huachuca! <3
