Arizona and Mexico: Kino Mission Tours To Arizona and Mexico

Father Euseblo Kino was a Catholic priest and explorer who established several missions throughout southern Arizona and southwestern Mexico in the 1700s. Today, tourists can take guided tours of the shrines and churches that are organized by the Southwestern Mission Research Center (SMRC). Thanks to the World Wide Web, resources on these tours as well as information on featured attractions and accommodations are at every computer user's fingertips.

One of Father Kino's most-visited missions is the San Xavier del Bac, which is a restored church with an ornately adorned exterior and interior that is located just outside of Tucson. Among the numerous churches built in Mexico by Kino and his followers are the ones located in Caborca, Oquitoa, Cocospera and San Ignacio. As far as his work as an explorer is concerned, Kino charted the Organ Pipe National Monument, which lies along the border of the United States and Mexico, and the Pinacate World Biosphere, which is situated 30 miles south of Organ Pipe at Sonora.

Tours of Kino's churches as well as the remains of his destroyed missions are offered by the Southwestern Mission Research Center (SMRC), a Tucson-based organization comprised of historians, archaeologists and Kino scholars. The group organizes bus tours four times a year that include transportation, accommodations, and a few meals. For more information on lodging and these tours that retrace Father Kino's path in establishing missions throughout southern Arizona and southwestern Mexico, look to the web sites provided below.