Tinkertown Museum — Attraction in Four Corners States

I have lived in the Duke City all my life and have gone up to Sandia Crest many times. I always passed this place but never stopped...until today. When you pull in you can tell this is a very interesting place. When walking up to the gift shop to purchase our tickets you see that the walls are made of cement and glass. All colors, shapes and sizes of beer, liquor, and soda bottles...intact. As you walk through the door the little 3-4 room shop is packed with so much interesting things. It took us a bit to look around and it smelt very good in there..i made the comment and the lady said it was probably the homemade soaps and as I went to a room I realized that was exactly what it was. After looking around for a bit we purchased our tickets to check out the museum..they were about 3.75 per adult..they do have different senior and child prices. The lady gave us a quarter and said this is to start your first show. After paying you walk out and to your right you go through a wooden little gate, beyond that gate you open up a whole new world 😆. We see a machine that says 25cents so we pop in that quarter and you see a set of wooden characters playing instruments and singing. After this you follow the walk way into another buildings that have so many different set ups that are wood carved and animated..towns with saloons, blacksmiths, horse drawn carriages. So beautiful and so much talent and time to carve and set up. There are displays set up throughout with old medication bottles, tools, knives..etc. There is so much to see. Pictures do not so this place justice...you have to do the museum for yourself. There are so many rooms so make sure you take every twist and turn so you don't miss anything. This place is DEFINATELY recommended whether your local or an out of towner. I wish I would have done this sooner. I would go again..I love the feel of this place. Enjoy! P.S get quarters from the gift shop..about $3.00- $4.00 worth..theres other things/games inside that you can do...

Took my daughter to visit TinkerTown today. I had been wanting to do it on the past few trips to Albuquerque, but it seemed a bit too far to drive all the way to the other side of the Sandia mountains. Well, let me just start by saying THIS is a MUST-SEE attraction when visiting not just Albuquerque, but when visiting New Mexico!!! It is so unique, charming, whimsical, enchanted, magical, creative and inspiring (what other words can I use to describe this very special one-of-a-kind place?)… I learned about the artist, Ross J Ward, who created Tinkertown (what an amazing and gifted individual!), we met his widow Carla Ward (she was so genuinely precious and shared stories with us about Tinkertown), Mandy who was also working in the gift shop was so friendly. It was snowing today (which kind of added extra sparkle to the exhibit) and also what would have been Ross Ward’s 83rd birthday… so they were celebrating… and it just felt so good to be there! I will be coming back EVERY TIME I visit New Mexico from now on. It’s worth the trip!!! I can’t really even begin to describe the place… maybe a mash-up of Knott’s Berry Farm (western ghost town & bottle house), meets Disneyland (animatronic characters/dioramas and quarter-activated machines — think Main Street Penny Arcade), meets Ripley’s Believe It or Not (unusual finds and personal collections of abstract wonders!), meets Meow Wolf (artwork galore!!!)… with so many unique phrases, inspiring sayings and charming inspiration all around! I can’t stop thinking about it! It’s just one of those places you’ll never forget… and always want to go back to! This hidden gem is New Mexico’s wonderland...

If you have not been to this place you should totally go. I have been popping into this location ever since I was a child. I cannot begin to describe all the neat little Trinkets and doodads that they have laying around. You should look it up if there is a website on the interweb. It has a bunch of relics from the past. There are a bunch of swords, knives, guns, Farming tools, and industrial tools from the late 1700s, as well as the 1800s. I do believe that the artifacts represented there can be traced from the 1800s to the early nineteen-hundreds without a doubt. There is even a model of an old-time early 1900s circus. It has moving Parts, it is lit up just like it would be back in the day, and it even has the old traditional circus music that is stereotypically thought of when envisioning this particular scene. There is also an old western town model that you can push a button and make characters move around on magnetic tracks. There are many things about this location that one should check out. You will know when you are there because you will see a wall that has a bunch of alcohol / liquor bottles shoved through it. If the right time of the day you can see the light go through the bottles, and skits lights up to the wall in a very neat way. If you have not been, or you have not been there in a while. You should definitely get some friends together and go. It is $10 a person I think. Bring cash, not plastic. Please, go check this place out. You will not regret it. Definitely, without a doubt, bring the children. They will absolutely love it. Make memories for...