Once upon a time, Tombstone was a real town. Not anymore. As I wrote elsewhere, it is a fading theme park for aging cowboy fans. Locals dress up and pretend to be cowboys. They will take you for a ride on a 19th century carriage. You can even wander through buildings that look old, only to discover that they are re-creations of old ones that originally had a history.
Will cowboys be more popular than space warriors
But I wonder if there might be a revival of the Old West mystic resulting from the TV series Yellowstone. Will kids want to wear cowboy oufits at Halloween once again–instead of space warrior costumes? Will they want to learn how to rope a cow–instead of shooting a laser gun? And will their parents be willing to drive to Tombstone to give the kids a special cowboy experience?
Well, that last question might have an answer that is much closer than the hour and a half drive up to Tombstone. Right here in Tucson is a smaller scale version of the Old West, the Trail Dust Town, out on Tanque Verde Road. Unlike Tombstone which still is sorta a real town–AirBnB is there–as well as an old time replica, Trail Dust Town is straight up replica, a small theme park of sorts, with an interesting collection of 19th Century Old West memorabilia.
Teach-yourself steer roping
So let’s start with the kids. These two were teaching themselves how to rope longhorns. The expression on the boy’s face means success! It turned out the little girl was pretty good, too. And the cost for this entertainment was zero. Free. The lassos were provided along with the sawhorse longhorns.
Once they learned to rope it could be time for a ride — on a painted horse on the carousel behind the Trail Dust center square. Or maybe go round and round on the smallest ferris wheel I’ve ever seen. Apparently the action doesn’t begin until 5 p.m. which seems to be a little late for younger kids who would seem to be the ones who would want to take these rides. They’re not daring enough for older kids.
Historic wagons and replica buildings
Then there were the old authentic wagons. Of course, there is a red stage coach for the Overland Mail. And out back is a chuck wagon that appears to be well supplied. The Pistoleros sign on the side of the covered wagon is for some kind of Wild West Show. I have to admit that the middle of the day in the middle of January is not exactly the best time to see all the activities at Trail Dust Town, so I have no idea what their Wild West Show actually is. (Their website indicates that it is a Old West stunt show with guns.)
The central square of Trail Dust has a Disneyland Main Street quality about it: old-fashioned buildings that are more brightly painted than their precursors ever were. In some ways it also reminded me of the fake cities on the back lot at Warner Studios.
I was left feeling there should be more to do..more snacks to buy…more something than just admiring whimsical architecture during daylight hours on a Saturday.
When guns come into play
Well, I’ll leave you with these two images, above: a replica wooden fort–also 19th century–complete with gun barrels sticking out and in the central square, a shooting gallery with absolutely no one inside it. It’s a novel idea to have the targets be stuff that is stacked on a bar–they have red dots on them. And there is, as I mentioned, a gunfight stunt show at Trail Dust Town.
Like a lot of other things at this theme park, there are interesting things to see, but not much to do, nor many people around. On the other hand, there appeared to be no charge for admission — unlike another Wild West location near the city. And in today’s economy free is good.
