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Bird Cage Theatre, Tombstone, AZ

Photo: Hawkeye58, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

MuseumsHistory BuffQuirky Fun

Bird Cage Theatre

535 E Allen St · Tombstone, AZ

Why you should go…

The Bird Cage Theatre opened on Allen Street in December 1881 as a theater, saloon and gambling hall, and today it is a museum. On a self-guided tour you walk through the original theater, saloon, gambling rooms and bordello spaces, past the balcony boxes known as bird cages and more than 140 bullet holes. Also on display are the Black Moriah hearse that carried Tombstone residents to Boothill Graveyard and the basement poker room. Ghost tours run at night.

  • #old west
  • #historic theater
  • #tombstone
  • #ghost tour
  • #museum

Good to know

General museums guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Check the special exhibition separately

    Touring shows usually carry their own ticket and their own opening hours, listed apart from general admission.

  • Look for the free window

    Many museums run community days, member evenings, or discounted late openings. It is worth a look before you pay full price.

  • Travel light through the door

    Large bags and backpacks often have to go to a coat check, and lines for it move slowly at opening.

  • Weekday mornings beat weekend afternoons

    School groups clear out by early afternoon midweek, while weekends stay busy from late morning on.

What's around here?

The closest stops to Bird Cage Theatre, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Tombstone Historic District

    Free

    Walk the streets of an 1880s silver boomtown, past the O.K. Corral, the Bird Cage Theatre and old saloons.

    Right next doorSwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Tours
    Outdoor Adventure

    Apache ATV Tours

    $50+

    Guided ATV rides through the canyons and ghost-town ranches of southeast Arizona near Tombstone.

    Steps awaySwitch it up: Tours

  • Attractions
    History Buff

    OK Corral

    Under $25

    The historic Tombstone site of the 1881 gunfight between the Earps and the Clantons, with a daily reenactment and the Historama show.

    Steps awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Boothill Graveyard

    Under $25

    Walk the rows of an 1870s frontier cemetery where the men killed in the O.K. Corral gunfight are buried.

    0.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing
    Local Gem

    Benson

    Free

    A small Cochise County railroad town serving as the gateway to Kartchner Caverns, with a visitor center in a replica train depot.

    22 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums
    Family Favorite

    Pima Air & Space Museum

    Under $25

    Walk among about 400 historic aircraft spread across six indoor hangars and 80 acres of open desert display.

    56 mi awayMore like this