Accessibility

Something everywhere you look

Anna Miller Post a comment
Something everywhere you look

You won’t believe this place!

Close your eyes and think of the most detailed diorama you can remember seeing. Now multiply that 100 times. You might be getting a feel for what Tinkertown Museum is like. Every single nook and cranny is filled with something. Scratch that. Every nook or cranny is filled with at least 10 things.

Anna, a teen girl in denim shorts and a ruffled white t-shirt, in her wheelchair in front of an interactive mechanical diorama of a country bar band. There is a brown wooden fence surrounding the scene and a sign indicating 25 cents. She is looking at the band.
A tall wall built from old glass bottles, mostly clear or green,, stacked on top of each other and cemented together. There is a large folk art sculpture of a man with a long mustache wearing a very tall top hat. There is light above coming from a skylight.
a wall built from stacked green and brown glass bottles cemented together in Tinker Town museum,, New Mexico.
View of relics and old advertising signs hanging high on a wood wall and from rafters. There are rusty horseshoes, old bottles, old tools. The yellow and black advertising sign reads Wahoo Indian Tonic for Liver and Kidneys.
A glass enclosed diorama that has a wild west rocky and hilly landscape with a prospecting scene. Possibly a reference to the turquoise mined locally in the past. A sign below the display appears like a chalkboard with hand lettering. Trail to Tinkertown museum. There are small blue light bulbs above.
A painted sign on a locking wooden. panel of the fortune teller machine. Dark brown wood with blue and green patterned sign with gold lettering Grand Mother Esmeralda Will Reveal Your Fate.
Close up of the fortune teller bust in the case. She has a tea cup in front of her on a table with cards spread out and her hands over them. She is wearing a head scarf and a blue high necked blouse with many layered necklaces. There is a spotlight in the back and a strand of rope lighting around the front edges.
Hand-painted arched wooden sign with an upright pink hand in the center. The palm has a eye in the center of a heart. Grandmother Esmeralda She will deal your card and explain your fate. 25 cents. There are swirls, playing card suits and a sun, moon and stars painted on the sign. Blue and orange background.
A framed collection of alphabet cards that are illustrated like children's literature. The frame is fancy embellished gold wood and hangs on a rough brown wood wall.
Anna, a teen wearing denim shorts and a white ruffled t-shirt, sitting in her wheelchair in front of the vintage lighted fortune teller machine. She is holding the printed ticket that was dispensed with her fortune. The machine has an ornate black and gold cabinet with an upper window that holds a bust of a gypsy fortune teller.
Doorway to a small closet-like room that holds the Fortune Teller machine. The doorway has a cardved upper piece with a sign above that reads Enter. There is fringe dangling from the edge of the ceiling inside the room.
A purposefully cluttered wall in Tinker Town museum. Several old license plates and metal advertising signs on display.
Handcarved village town scene with many intricate details and several buildings. Behind glass in a waist high display case built into a wall.
A folk art style painted wood carved Cigar Store Indian. About 4 foot tall and standing on shelf in Tinker Town museum.
Carved wood sign on a shelf that readsOld Style Cigar Store Indian Carved by R.J.Ward- 1976
Carved wooden sign with white raised letters on an old red painted wooden door. Sign reads: Tinker Town was begun as a hobby in 1962. It was not intended as a public display until your interest helped build our museum. There is a carved skunk above the sign that says Skunks, racoons,, squirrels, etc. all call the mountains their home.

Tinkertown is a showcase for Ross Ward’s imaginative collection of miniatures and memorabilia along with a lifetime of his wood carvings. Many have a circus theme as he worked as a show painter on the carnival circuit. Folk art was his lifelong hobby. There are creative dioramas everywhere you turn, additionally there are also a few interactive amusements along the way. It’s important to know that these will require a quarter, so make sure you get some before you enter. Esmerelda the fortune teller and Otto the one-man-band are two of my favorites! It was both an overwhelming and fascinating place, and I spent way longer than the 30 minutes that they suggest to allow. 

Tinkertown Museum Accessibility

Now the nitty-gritty for people who use mobility aids like wheelchairs. This is going to be a tricky place to visit. The hallways are very thin and curvy. The floors are uneven, possibly even tilted. I use a smaller-than-standard-size manual wheelchair and with assistance from family, I was able to make this work. All of it. If you can transition to arm crutches or walk for short distances, that may be a better option. If you need a large or power wheelchair, the honest truth is that you may be better off limiting yourself to checking out the portions visible from the outside. There is a wall of fantasy storefronts that are interesting and completely outside the building. If you are traveling through this area with family or friends, you may just want to enjoy the mountain air and the outdoor displays. So is the Tinkertown Musuem accessible? I would say only if you have a friend or family member there to help and a slim manual chair.

This attraction is open seasonally. They do have a placard reserved parking space near their main door, and offer free admission to those in wheelchairs. That will make it easy to splurge on chocolates or ice cream along the Turquoise Trail portion of your trip, or anywhere else you decide to explore in New Mexico!

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