The Ideal Vacation Hotel in Tombstone

Stroll down to the Boot Hill Cemetery and see how the old time cowpokes lived and died in Tombstone. Then make your way to Allen Street and the rest of Tombstone, where the Wild West comes alive again. From the Birdcage Theater to the OK Corral, Tombstone has it all!

Tombstone Average Daily Temperature

Events in Tombstone

For all event times and dates, please call the Holiday Inn Express at 520-457-9507

Art Center Quilt Show - February Contact (520) 457-2380

Open Show for Artists - March Contact (520) 457-2380

Ed Schieffelin Territorial Days - March Honoring Prospector Ed Schieffelin and Surveyor Solon M. Allis' completion of laying out the Tombstone town site in March 1879. Activities: Saturday, championship hose cart races, all-pet parade and Firemen's Ball in the evening. Sunday, mining competition, prospecting displays, Schieffelin look-alike contest, and parade.

Vintage Classic Custom Car Show - April 150 of the countries hottest classic, both domestic and import, cars will compete in ten different categories at the Tombstone Courthouse. Enjoy Tombstone's authentic restaurants and street entertainment.

Tombstone Rose Festival - April Celebrates the 118th blooming of the world's largest rose tree. Every year this famous Lady welcomes spring by producing millions of blossoms. Activities for the celebration will include a Rose Parade, basket lunch auction and Allen Street cake- walk. Activities: Saturday Parade & basket lunch auction and Sunday cakewalk auction.

Wyatt Earp Days - May In honor of the West's most famous lawman. Activities include gunfights, a chili cook- off, hangings, an 1880s fashion show, street entertainment, dances, and more. Activities: gunfights, a chili cook-off, hangings and 1880's fashion show, street entertainment, Wyatt look-alike contest and more.

Tombstone Film and Book Exposition - July The festival is a combination of western film stars and celebrities with the famous authors and scholars of western lawman and outlaw books, novels, periodicals, & magazines. Western celebrities include: Buck Taylor, Robert Fuller, Alex Cord, Gregg Palmer, Martin Kove, Dirk London, Jan Shepard, Dick Jones and William Smith. Scholars and authors, many of whom are frequent faces on the History Channel, will also be present.

Family Style Fourth of July - July Events will be held at Medigovich Field. Activities: Round Robin, 1-day softball tournament (all ages), kids' games and food booths. Enjoy Tombstone's authentic restaurants and street entertainment.

Vigilante Days - August Event commemorates Tombstone's unique western cowboy heritage. Activities: 10- kilometer run, reenactments, street entertainment, gunfight competitions, hangings and chili cook-off.

Rendezvous of Gunfighters - September Gunfighter groups from throughout the U.S. gather in Tombstone to duel it out. Activities: Most-authentic costume contest and parade on Sunday. Enjoy Tombstone's authentic restaurants and street entertainment.

Wings and Spurs - September This will be the third annual Wings & Spurs, Fly-in, Vintage Aircraft and Western Swing. There will be several vintage aircraft, experimentals, and ultralights on display with People's Choice Awards given to the selected planes. There will be several local entertainers on hand for a great Western Swing Saturday from 6 -10 p.m. Admission to the dance is a cash donation or non- perishable food items to benefit Helen's Food Bank of Tombstone.

Helldorado Days - October What started out as the town's 50th anniversary celebration in l929 has turned into its oldest tradition. Activities: Reenactments, parade on Sunday, fashion shows, food, carnival, live music, beard contest & street entertainment, Sponsor: Helldorado, Inc.

Tombstone Western Music Festival - November Second Annual Tomstone Western Music Festival. This year the talent is even more exciting than last year. In addition to our evening concerts at Schieffelin Hall there will be an outdoor stage during the day on Saturday. Sunday will feature Cowboy Church as well as an afternoon round-up concert. Come and enjoy the festival and Tombstone's Western atmosphere for the entire weekend. For information on performances, please visit: www.tombstonewesternmusicfestival.com

Clanton Gang Reunion - November The annual Tombstone reunion of the Clantons. Visit www.tombstonearizona.com for more info.

Christmas Craft Show - November - December Cochise County Crafters (All items handmade) Tombstone Art Gallery group - www.tombstone.org

Tombstone Holiday Festival - December Shop Tombstone and enjoy varied holiday activities. Contact (888) 457-3929, www.tombstone.org.

Download a handy Holiday Inn Express information sheet [176k PDF].

Tombstone Attractions

At several places along Allen Street, you can hop aboard a stagecoach or a covered wagon, and for a few dollars get a narrated tour of town.

• O.K. Corral & Tombstone Historama - Gunslingers & Saloons: In Search Of The Wild West--As portrayed in novels, movies, and TV shows, the shootout has come to epitomize the Wild West, and nowhere is this great American phenomenon more glorified than in Tombstone, where the star attraction is the famous O.K. Corral, 308 E. Allen St. (tel. 520/457-3456; www.ok-corral.com), site of a 30-second gun battle that has taken on mythic proportions over the years. Inside the corral, you'll find not only displays on the shootout, but also exhibits on prostitutes and local photographer C. S. Fly, who ran the boardinghouse where Doc Holliday was staying at the time. Next door is Tombstone's Historama, a sort of multimedia affair that rehashes the well-known history of Tombstone's "bad old days." Admission is $2.50 at either place; for $6.50, you can visit both attractions and take in a shootout reenactment almost on the very site of the original gunfight. Shootouts occur fairly regularly around town between noon and 4pm.
• Boothill Graveyard - When the smoke cleared in 1881, three men lay dead. They were later carted off to the Boot Hill Graveyard (tel. 800/457-9344 or 520/457-9344), on the north edge of town. The cemetery is open to the public and is entered through a gift shop on Ariz. 80. The graves of Clanton and the McLaury brothers, as well as those of others who died in gunfights or by hanging, are well marked. Entertaining epitaphs grace the gravestones; among the most famous is that of Lester Moore - "Here lies Lester Moore, 4 slugs from a 44, No Les, no more." The cemetery is open daily from 7:30am to 6 or 6:30pm; admission is free.
• Birdcage Theatre - When the residents of Tombstone weren't shooting each other in the streets, they were likely to be found in the saloons and bawdy houses that lined Allen Street. Most famous is the Bird Cage Theatre, so named for the cagelike cribs (what most people would think of as box seats) that are suspended from the ceiling. These velvet-draped cages were used by prostitutes to ply their trade. For old Tombstone atmosphere, this place is hard to beat. Admission is $5 for adults, $4.50 for seniors, and $4 for children 8 to 18; the theater is open daily from 8am to 6pm.
• Crystal Palace Saloon - If you want to down a cold beer, Tombstone has a couple of very lively saloons. The Crystal Palace, at Allen and Fifth streets (tel. 520/457-3611), was built in 1879 and has been completely restored. This is one of the favorite hangouts for the town's costumed actors and other would-be cowboys and cowgirls. Big Nose Kate's, on Allen Street between Fourth and Fifth streets (tel. 520/457-3107), is an equally entertaining spot full of Wild West character and characters.
• Rose Tree Museum - Tombstone has long been a tourist town, and its streets are lined with souvenir shops selling wind chimes, western artifacts, and other wild souvenirs. There are also several small museums scattered around town. At the Rose Tree Inn Museum, at Fourth and Toughnut streets (tel. 520/457-3326), you can see what may be the world's largest rose bush. Inside are antique furnishings from Tombstone's heyday in the 1880s. Admission is $3; open daily from 9am to 5pm.
• Tombstone Courthouse State Park - The most imposing building in town is the Tombstone Courthouse State Park, at Third and Toughnut streets (tel. 520/457-3311). Built in 1882, the courthouse is now a state historic park and museum, containing artifacts, photos, and newspaper clippings chronicling Tombstone's lively past. In the courtyard, the gallows that once ended the lives of outlaws and bandits still stands. Open daily from 8am to 5pm; the entrance fee is $2.50 for adults and $1 for children 7 to 13.
• Tombstone Epitaph Museum - At the Tombstone Epitaph Museum, Fifth Street between Allen and Fremont streets (tel. 520/457-2211), you can inspect the office of the town's old newspaper. Open daily from 9:30am to 5pm; admission is free. To see what life was like for common folk in the old days, pay a visit to the Pioneer Home Museum, on Fremont Street (Ariz. 80) between Eighth and Ninth streets (tel. 520/457-3853; www.tombstone1880.com/phm). Open daily from 9am to 5pm; a $2 donation is requested.
• Kartchner Caverns - On this tour you will discover the role water has played in the creation of Kartchner Caverns. You will see some of the tiniest, most delicate formations found in the cave, as well as the largest column in Arizona. This tour includes an up-close look at the variety of formations and colors that makes this cave one of the top ten in the world. All tours are guided by a trained tour guide. Reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by calling: (520)586-CAVE. The cave averages 68 F and 98% humidity year round. All cave trails are barrier-free. Due to wet surfaces and changes in grades, strollers and walkers are not allowed on the tours. Just 18 miles from the Holiday Inn Express in Tombstone!

Gunfight reenactments are performed daily. Performing groups include the Wild Bunch, Vigilantes, Boothill Gunslingers, Tombstone Cowboys and Six-Gun City. Show times are posted at the Visitor Center, corner of 4th & Allen Streets.

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