The Santa Rita Mountains (O'odham: To:wa Kuswo Doʼag), located about 40 miles (60 km) southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend 26 miles (42 km) from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastwards into the Patagonia Mountains, trending northwest by southeast. The highest point in the range, and the highest point in the Tucson area, is Mount Wrightson, with an elevation of 9,453 feet (2,881 m), The range contains Madera Canyon, one of the world's premier birding areas.
Mount Wrightson (O'odham: Ce:wi Duag) is a 9,456-foot (2,882 m) peak in the Santa Rita Mountains within the Coronado National Forest, in southern Arizona, United States. It was renamed from its original O'odham name: Ce:wi Duag for William Wrightson, a miner and entrepreneur in the region killed by Apaches in the 1865 Battle of Fort Buchanan.
Madera Canyon is a canyon in the northwestern face of the Santa Rita Mountains, twenty-five miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona. As part of the Coronado National Forest, Madera Canyon has campsites, picnic areas, and miles of hiking trails. The canyon is also used as a resting place for migrating birds, and it is thus known as a premier birdwatching area.
It has a Visitor and Science Center that showcases astrophysics exhibits, views of the surrounding Santa Rita Mountains and has guided tours of the MMT Observatory. Tours mid-Mar to Nov: M W F begin at 9AM and return at 3PM. $10 for adults and children aged 13+, $5 for children aged 6-12. Advance reservations are required. Tours are suspended due to COVID19 as of Dec 2021.
VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) is a major ground-based gamma-ray observatory with an array of four 12 meter optical reflectors for gamma-ray astronomy in the GeV – TeV photon energy range. VERITAS uses the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope technique to observe gamma rays that cause particle showers in Earth's atmosphere that are known as extensive air showers. The VERITAS array is located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, in southern Arizona, United States.
About this list
Attractions are associated with the nearest recognisable destination rather than by municipal boundary, so a place just outside Madera Canyon still appears here if that is how visitors reach it. None of these publish an official visitor count, so they are ranked on public interest and tourism significance. Each page says so.
Near Madera Canyon
The closest attractions outside Madera Canyon, measured from the places listed above rather than from a town centre nothing occupies.
