How to have the best day in Bisbee, from seances to e-bike explorations
Bisbee is a tilted town. It snakes into the hills and spills down gulches. Streets are narrow and twisted. Neighborhoods are knitted together by concrete staircases. With so many angles, it's hard to come at the former mining town straight on.
But that's what makes it such a special place to visit. There are always new and different ways to explore Bisbee.
The town's rich history and striking Victorian architecture have been preserved yet also enhanced in recent decades with an infusion of artistic energy. Today, Bisbee's creative spirit blends with its quirky cosmopolitan air. This is where you come to experience art, to buy art or to see life as an artist does. This is where you come for a jolt of inspiration.
There's also the elevation bonus. Nestled in the Mule Mountains, Bisbee is the nation's southernmost mile-high city. That translates to 15- to 20-degree cooler days than Phoenix. Sounds like a perfect Arizona getaway in the coming weeks.
Here are a few ways to discover and rediscover Bisbee.
This Main Street shop includes a retail space full of Bisbee merchandise and a refreshment bar selling everything from smoothies to cocktails.
It also serves as a headquarters for adventure. B Active Bisbee arranges guided tours via golf carts, electric bikes and walking. The 1-hour golf cart tour ($35 per person) provides a nice overview of art and history.
The e-bike tour ($50 per person) lasts two hours and is led by a knowledgeable guide who communicates via two-way audio headset for the first 60 minutes. Guests are turned loose for the last hour to explore on their own. B Active Bisbee also rents e-bikes.
Walking and hiking tours combine the best of urban sights and some quiet climbs into the Mule Mountains. B Active Bisbee also has partnered with Old Bisbee Ghost Tours to offer a spooky tour on wheels for $45. Hop on the ghost cart and experience your goosebumps in comfort.
Details: 86 Main. St. 520-352-9696, bactivebisbee.com.
When you climb into the vehicle with Travis Bishop, you'll see the town through the eyes of a Bisbee-born guide. He shares not just his knowledge but his passion on at least eight different tours.
His most popular outings are the two-hour Old Bisbee Tour ($59 per adult), a thorough overview that includes the Lavender Pit and the community of Lowell; and the 3-hour Miners Peak Tour ($120 per adult), which adds a dirt road climb to 7,000 feet for panoramic views of the entire county and deep into Mexico.
All tours are private, one group (maximum of four people) at a time. Guest-choice pickup locations are offered, as are discount prices for seniors and youths.
Details: 520-788-4434, bigjeeptours.com.
Bisbee straddled one of the greatest mineral deposits in history. Here's your chance to discover the remnants of those days on a two-hour rockhounding tour.
Local experts lead you into the hills to search for treasures like azurite, malachite and turquoise. And guests keep anything they find. It's a hands-on experience, perfect for serious collectors or curious newbies. Enjoy the scenery, learn about the storied mining history and connect to the bones of this landscape.
Tours are offered at 4 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Cost is $17 per adult.
Details: Call or text 520-366-2694 to make a reservation and ask about child prices.
The oldest jeep tour company in town offers eight narrated tours to choose from. Ramble up hidden back roads, discover mansions in lofty cloud-scraping neighborhoods or catch a sunset over the San Pedro Valley.
Most popular is the Historic Old Bisbee Tour that runs 90-110 minutes and costs $60 per person. Mystery buffs will love the J.A. Jance/Joanna Brady Tour (2+ hours, $85 per person), that explores the author's local heritage and settings used in her many novels.
Details: 520-432-5369, lavenderjeeptours.com.
The granddaddy of Bisbee tours remains this underground plunge into a portion of the old Copper Queen Mine. Outfitted in hard hats and slickers, visitors are led 1,500 feet deep into the tunnels for an up-close look at mining techniques, conditions and dangers.
Tour guides are knowledgeable and many are former miners for an added dose of realism. You'll emerge with a whole new appreciation of your job. Dress warmly because it's cool underground all year round. The hourlong tour costs $16, $8 for children 6-12.
Details: 478 N. Dart Road. 520-432-2071, copperqueenmine.com.
Take a most unusual journey without leaving your seat when you attend the Séance Room, hosted by Magic Kenny Bang Bang. The hourlong interactive show takes place around the séance table — a combination of haunted history and Victorian parlor magic.
Eerie and mysterious but still appropriate for kids, the show is part illusion, part sleight of hand and part surprising reveals. Prepare to be astounded. Performances take place Thursday through Saturday evenings. $30, $15 for children 10 and under.
Details: 26 Brewery Ave. 520-203-3350, thebisbeeseanceroom.com.
For another after-dark experience, enjoy the thrills and chills of Old Bisbee Ghost Tours. In operation since 2007, this is the original spine-tingling, spook-chasing tour of Bisbee. Guides dress in period garb and spin sinister tales of spirits trapped between worlds. The tales are filled with lots of good history but all have an eerie spin.
A variety of tours are offered. The classic ghost tour lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes and costs $20 per person. Well-behaved children 6 and up are allowed. A haunted pub crawl is available on weekends, $45 for three hours.
Details: 520-432-3308, oldbisbeeghosttour.com.
This historic walking tour is offered by the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum. While the museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, is well worth a visit, the Step Back in Time tour is a different kind of treat. It starts from the front steps of the museum every Saturday at 2 p.m. Delve into Bisbee's rowdy past on this hourlong guided adventure through downtown. Adults $15, kids $5. The walking tour does not include museum admission.
Details: 5 Copper Queen Plaza. 520-432-7071, ext. 1; bisbeemuseum.org.
Self-starters can grab an assortment of maps at the Tourist Information Center and stroll the streets on their own schedule. Maps highlight the special architecture of Bisbee and focus on different areas of interest, including churches and schools, the commercial district and the market district and immigrant neighborhoods.
Details: 478 Dart Road. 520-432-3554, discoverbisbee.com.
Lowell is a town holding its breath, a relic of bygone days. This is "Happy Days" meets "The Twilight Zone," where the past exists but the people don't.
Lowell was once a thriving mining town adjacent to Bisbee but was eventually gobbled by the ravenous abyss of the Lavender Pit. With only a segment of Erie Street left, Lowell could have easily drifted into oblivion. Instead, a group of volunteers restored the little avenue so that it reflected a simpler time.
Now Erie Street resembles a Hollywood backlot with vintage gas pumps, antique signs and classic cars highlighting the historic architecture. While much of the Erie Street time capsule is just ornamentation, a few businesses are still functional, including the highly popular Bisbee Breakfast Club restaurant at 75A Erie St.
Find the reporter at www.rogernaylor.com. Or follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RogerNaylorinAZ.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Best things to do in Bisbee, AZ, from seances to e-bike tours
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