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About Us -
Hi, We’re Karen & Bill,
Locals Helping You Savor the Best of Tucson
If you’re planning to visit Tucson, but wondering what’s truly worth your time in our area. This About Us page helps you discover - beyond the usual lists - you’re in the right place.
Planning a trip to Tucson? Let locals show you what makes it special
Tucson Up Close is a locally run travel guide created to help visitors (and curious locals) experience Tucson the way we’ve come to know and love it: scenic, diverse, surprising, and full of places that don’t always make it into guidebooks.
Why You Can Trust Our Recommendations
We’ve lived in Tucson for close to 50 years. Exploring Tucson, along with southern Arizona, has been part of our everyday life. It's not just something we do for our website content.
Before creating this site, we spent years traveling extensively. We saw what makes a trip memorable and what makes planning frustrating. When friends and family started asking us for Tucson advice, we realized how hard it was to find clear, experience-based recommendations all in one place.
So we decided to build the resource we wished existed.
Every place featured here is researched firsthand or through family and friends' experiences who also live in Tucson. Each subject is thoughtfully chosen, and written with real visitors in mind, not just search engines or generic travel trends.
Our Story
We originally came to Tucson for work and quickly fell in love with the area’s landscapes, culture, and sense of space.
Bill and I have always loved to travel.
Over the years of living in Tucson we've been exploring scenic drives, taking day trips, visiting neighborhoods, and checking out the hidden corners of our city, as well as southern Arizona. Something we've genuinely enjoyed, and still do. Tucson continues to surprise us, even after all this time.
That’s a big reason this site exists: there’s always something new to discover here.
Who This Tucson Travel Website Is For
Tucson Up Close is for:
- First-time visitors planning their first Tucson trip.
- Repeat visitors looking for new explorations and ideas.
- Locals who want to explore places they haven’t seen yet, or who want a staycation.
Whether you’re here for a long weekend, or taking a week or two vacation, or you’ve lived here for years - our goal is to help you make the most of your time.
What You’ll Find Here
We took a family 4-wheeling tour into the desert.On Tucson Up Close, you’ll find:
- Things to do and see in and around Tucson
- Scenic drives and day trips
- Nature, history, and local highlights
- Practical ideas to help you plan with confidence
We focus on experiences that feel worthwhile - not just popular.
Ready to Explore Tucson?
If you’re just getting started, the best place to begin is our homepage, which highlights our favorite Tucson experiences. It's a great overview for visitors who want to plan a memorable trip without feeling overwhelmed.
👉 Start Exploring Tucson Here>
Meet the People Behind Tucson Up Close - About Us
We once had this RV - long-gone now!We’re a married couple who love exploring Tucson and sharing the places that make this area special.
- I (Karen) write most of the content, drawing on our years of local experience and travel adventures.
- Bill brings his own perspective and helps uncover overlooked treasures.
Together, we aim to give visitors - and even longtime locals - ideas for memorable experiences around southern Arizona. We Created This Website to give others what we always want or expect for ourselves when traveling.
Karen
I’m Karen, a longtime Tucson resident who loves exploring the area’s scenic drives, historic sites, and hidden corners.
Over the years, I’ve discovered the spots that make Tucson special. Then I enjoy sharing practical, first-hand tips to help visitors feel confident planning their trip.
So, my position is as the webmaster for Tucson Up Close.
Bill is part of this as well.
I'm Karen - Nice to meet you!Bill
Bill, Karen’s husband, is a Tucson enthusiast and avid traveler who enjoys uncovering both well-known attractions and quieter spots throughout southern Arizona.
He brings a thoughtful, experience-based perspective to exploring the region and is happy to help visitors discover places they might otherwise miss.
He helps with research, photos, and also with feedback for Karen's writing.
Visitor, meet Bill. 😎Have a Question or a Tip?
We’d love to hear from you!
Use the contact form below to reach out.
- Whether it’s about Tucson, one of our recommendations, or something you’ve discovered that others might enjoy.
- Or something you expected to see, but didn't find
- Or perhaps an error you saw (we, of course, aren't perfect😳).
We're continuously updating the information here, revising and/or adding more new pages with helpful details for travelers.
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