Not far up Sandia Crest Road sits Tinkertown. An indescribable museum meets interactive experience meets antique coin-operated arcade, folk art, and Americana history.
It’s truly New Mexico and truly one of a kind.
Tinkertown is a whimsical adventure and the brainchild of the late Ross Ward, an artist, carver, and tinkerer.
Ward’s carvings, artwork, and vast collection of miniatures and memorabilia make up the bulk of Tinkertown, but it’s so much more than that. The walls are made of glass bottles. Antique license plates are embedded in walkways. Visitors can push buttons on the Ward’s miniature hand-carved Western town dioramas to watch characters move. A 1930s sailboat that sailed around the world sits in a patio outside.
Ward painstakingly and lovingly built Tinkertown over 40 years before his death in 2002. His wife, Carla Ward, and his family have continued running the museum in his memory, and it recently became a nonprofit.
Visiting Tinkertown
The museum is about 30 minutes from Albuquerque at 121 Sandia Crest Road in Sandia Park.
Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for kids ages 4-16. Kids under 4 are free.
Don’t forget to bring quarters for the automatons. You can also purchase them at the entrance, swiping a credit card for “cash back” in quarters.
The museum is open in warmer months (typically April-November) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays through Mondays.
There is a portable toilet in the parking lot, but no other public bathroom.
The museum isn’t accessible due to the nature of the artwork, with tight hallways and uneven pathways. The museum says some of the outdoor displays are accessible, though the indoor sections are the most fascinating for kids and adults. However, admission is free for wheelchair users.
Inside Tinkertown
My kids—ages 8, 6 and 3—all loved Tinkertown.
After paying admission and getting quarters, we picked up laminated scavenger hunt cards at the entrance. Each card highlights a different part of the museum and asks kids to find several things hidden in that display. The scavenger hunt element kept us all wildly entertained as we explored.
Tinkertown is enchanting. The sunlight reflects off the glass bottle walls. The elaborately carved Wild West and circus scenes are so intricate that you could spend hours discovering all of the tiny details.
We loved pushing the buttons on the displays and watching the tiny wooden characters hop to life.
The antique arcade games and a few displays take a quarter or two to operate. There’s the Shake Hands with Uncle Sam that measures your grip strength. Automaton and Fortune Teller Esmeralda moves before dispensing a prophecy card. One display features music and moving wooden statues. Another is an orchestrion, a cabinet-like piece that holds multiple instruments inside and plays them for only a quarter.
Tucked near the end is a tiny, dim alcove lined with glass bottles, openings facing out, and scraps of paper. Kids can write a note and tuck it inside a container, leaving a “message in a bottle.”
And the gift shop is just as maximalistic and nostalgic with old-fashioned candy sticks, mood rings, and memorabilia galore.
If you’re looking to add some whimsy to your day, Tinkertown is a truly fascinating adventure that is perfect for kids of all ages!
