Tumamoc Tour

The story of the Sonoran Desert through the lens of Tumamoc Hill

Tumamoc Hill is one of Tucson’s cultural icons. In addition to a great cardio workout immersed in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, the Tumamoc Tour explores the story of this desert and the more than 4,000 years of human history through the lens of these historic grounds.

With each step, hear about the others who that have made the same trek over time. Discover the plants and animals that tell us about where we’ve been and where we’re going. And experience features like an augmented reality reconstruction of the village that once stood on top of the hill 2,500 years ago.

The Tumamoc Tour is divided into six sections that correspond to a distinct portion of the road, each punctuated with music by the band Calexico and paced to coincide with your walk up and down the Hill.

Enjoy your adventure with features such as:

• A fully bilingual experience

• An hour-long tour over six sections that covers the past, present and future of Tumamoc Hill

o Section 1, INTRODUCTION, offers a brief overview of the many aspects of Tumamoc Hill

o Section 2, THE DESERT LAB, tells the history of over 100 years of breakthrough science and discovery

o Section 3, ECOLOGY, explores the connections between the plants, animals and environments of the Sonoran Desert

o Section 4, ARCHAEOLOGY, goes back in time to better understand 4,000 years of human history at this site

o Section 5, STORIES FROM TUMAMOC, shares a diversity of cultural perspectives

• Section 6, THE FUTURE, provides a vision for the next era of Tumamoc HillAugmented reality reconstruction of the 2,500-year-old village on the top of Tumamoc Hill

• Sixteen detailed YouTube video stories on the landscapes, plants, animals and people of Tumamoc Hill

• Interactive map usability

• Music by Calexico

• Sonoran Strange spoken word poetry by Logan Phillips and Adam Cooper Terán

English narration by David Yetman

Spanish narration by Alberto Búrquez

This app was produced by the University of Arizona College of Science. For more information, please visit, tumamoc.arizona.edu