The Visitor Center is available for visitors Tuesday-Sunday. A seven-minute video is available for viewing, which gives a brief history of the village of Tubac. The Center hosts the park gift shop, which features a broad selection of books on Spain in the Southwest, Native American history, nature and environment, cookery and children’s books. The Visitor Center also has a scale model of the Captain’s house, which was a part of the presidio and is located on the park grounds. A hands-on table is also available which contains a variety of unique items. The park is closed December 25.

A variety of other historic state parks are located throughout Arizona. Take a look and enjoy Arizona's rich and varied history! 

Griffin Museum & Exhibits

The Visitor Center contains Spanish/Mexican influenced furnishings and an artist mural of the Presidio, a model of the Presidio, Historic maps, and a video presentation.

The Tubac Presidio State Historic Park and Griffin Museum  houses interpretive exhibits with many original artifacts including early Native American archaeological and ethnographic collections, Spanish Colonial and Missions, Mining, Ranching, Civil War, Arizona Territorial Period, Women and Children, and the original Washington Printing Press that printed Arizona’s first newspaper in 1859. There are also changing exhibits that provide additional relevant context to enjoy.

Tubac Presidio Archaeological Excavation Exhibit: In 1974, archaeologists from the University of Arizona and the Arizona State Museum excavated portions of the presidio site. Visitors can now view excavated portions of the original foundation, walls, and plaza floor of the Commandant’s quarters, as well as artifacts representing the various periods of Tubac’s unique history.

The 1885 Territorial Schoolhouse  is the second oldest schoolhouse in Arizona. Sit at one of the desks and imagine yourself learning history in a one-room school.

Otero Hall, built in 1914 as a community center and used as a school room in the 1930s, houses a collection of paintings revealing some of the more interesting events in Arizona history, along with a unique conveyance.

The Rojas House is a mid-20th century adobe vernacular row house with original furnishings of Luisa Rojas, a life-long resident of Tubac. The Rojas house, built in the 1880s, is a classic Sonoran “row house,” a single-story home built close to the road allotting private space to the interior and rear rather than near the front of the structure. The house sits on the early Tubac to Tumacácori road, which is the road Juan Bautista de Anza, and his expedition, used when leaving Tubac to found modern-day San Francisco. The Rojas house is on the National Register of Historic Places and is decorated with the furnishings of Luisa Rojas, a lifelong resident of Tubac. She was born in this home in 1893. Her family occupied the home for over 100 years. The original adobe structure, now sporting stucco, was lived in by Luisa until the early 1980s and retains many of her belongings. This home gives visitors the perfect opportunity to step back in time.

Outside patio exhibits show how people lived, cooked, and worked in Spanish Colonial times. Additionally, outside interpretive panels are located all along sidewalks.

Gardens

The Tubac Presidio is an 11-acre park that boasts eight fabulous gardens. There is something for every nature lover here, whether it's our herb and vegetable gardens or the gardens of flowers and succulents. A beautiful byproduct of the gardens is that they attract a variety of colorful butterflies during warmer months! Check out these eight gardens at your next visit to our beautiful park:

• Heritage Garden
• Heirloom Garden
• Perennial Garden
• Ethnobotanical Garden
• Cacti and Succulent Garden
• Kino's Herb Garden
• Shaw D. Kinsley Rose Garden
• Children's Garden

Gift Shop

 

The gift shop, located in the Visitor Center, is open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Items for sale include various books on the history of the area, regional cookbooks, park T-shirts and baseball caps, plus birding and wildlife guides.

Group: Day Use Areas

To reserve a Group: Day Use Area, please call the park for availability and current fees.

The Schoolhouse is available for meetings, lectures, performances, dances, weddings, and other group uses. There is a stage and a working potbelly stove and wood floors. The building, originally built in 1885, is handicap accessible. Note: No restrooms in building.

Picnic Grounds  are located on the south end of the park. There are 13 picnic tables, two of which are handicap accessible, and five grills. Firewood or charcoal must be brought in, as we do not sell it at the park. The picnic tables are located in a small grove of mesquite trees, which provide shade. This area is available for large groups, weddings, receptions, reunions, and large gatherings.  

Wildlife Viewing

A variety of birds can be spotted on the grounds, including roadrunners. Although large mammal sightings at the park, during park hours, are rare; on the Anza Trail which passes through the park, visitors can catch glimpses of javelinas, deer, and coyote.

Rules

• Please stay on sidewalks at all times, except in designated areas.
• Help us protect our natural and historic resources by not; touching, disturbing or climbing on, adobe ruins, trees or exhibits.
• Please do not remove any original materials from the park grounds to include artifacts such as glass, pottery, metal or stone. Leave park facilities, structures, signs, artifacts, vegetation, wildlife and other natural resources intact.
• Deposit litter and garbage only in the proper containers.
• Keep all pets on a 6 ft. leash and out of all buildings except the Visitor Center and picnic area. Please clean up after your pet. 
• Confine fires to grills or other designated areas. Fires may be restricted at certain times of the year. 
• Commercial use, large public gatherings, and other such events require a special permit from the park manager. 
• Fireworks displays are not permitted.
• Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult while on the park grounds. 
• Tubac Presidio is a day use park only, no overnight parking is allowed.

 

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