Our project visit with brother Rus wasn’t all work. After repeatedly passing signs along I-19 identifying the “Desert Museum” as a local attraction, we decided to go see what is officially known as the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It was located just south of the Saguaro National Park-West Tucson District and conveniently only 20 miles from our campsite.
The museum is a 98-acre combination zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum, publisher, and art gallery. It was inspired and founded in 1952 by William H. Carr with the support of Arthur Newton Pack, a wealthy friend, naturalist, writer, and editor of Nature Magazine. The museum operates as a nonprofit organization funded solely by admission fees, memberships, and donations. It focuses on the interpretation of the unique natural history, plants, and animals of the Sonoran Desert. More than 230 animal species and 1,200 varieties of plants exist on the property. A two-mile walking trail winds through 21 acres of desert landscape to place visitors as close to nature as possible. There are 400,000 visitors annually, making it a top Arizona attraction. We weren’t at all disappointed.
The museum had a dozen areas or stops arranged in a counter-clockwise route. Some were inside buildings, such as those pictured. Others were under covered shelters, often with staff personnel providing specific presentations with Q&As. One such staff member regaled us with facts about the Arizona Blonde Tarantula she had on display. No, we didn’t pet Blondie, as I’m a true arachnophobe! Females of this species live as long as 25 years, while males usually live only around 8 years or one year after reaching maturity. She told us males only mate once and die.
One of my favorite stops was the Earth Science Center and Cave, misnamed I thought since the center was inside the natural limestone cave. There were three primary sections underground: the natural cave, the science center, and a gemstone collection. I only took pictures of gemstones, which represented the variety of colors on display. But before exiting the cave, there were lighted views into cave recesses, which showed some gemstones in their natural state. We spent a significnt amount of time marvelling at each of the cave exhibits.
We spent most of the rest of our day outside walking around the habitat enclosures for the many mountain woodland, desert grassland, and canyon animals. We also saw wildlife along the desert loop trail and various birds in the aviary. We were lucky to see what we did, considering the heat. My highlight was the squadron of Javelina enjoying the shade under one of the foot bridges.
(Canis Lupus Baileyi)
(Odocoilieus Hemionus)i
(Spermisphilus Variegates)
(Urocyon Cinereoargenteus)
(Lithobates Pipiens)
We read somewhere how the desert ecosystem is more diverse than any other earth habitat. While we couldn’t verify this as true, the diversity we experienced was profound considering the harshness of the desert environment. I took these flora pictures as we strolled the museum pathways and trails.
(Stenocereus thurberi)
(Cylindropuntia Bigelovii)
(Opuntia phaeacantha)
Hidden in the exposed rocks along the trail was the well-advertised Packrat Playhouse. We went inside to get out of the heat but were amazed at the special playground provided for kids. There were giant desert creatures turned into playground equipment and an extensive multi-storied maze of tunnels, slides, walls and ropes to climb. We couldn’t help but do a bit of exploring/playing ourselves.
We thoroughly enjoyed our half day at the museum. It is definitely a must see, especially if kids are with you because of the interactivity. They also offer special evening visits several times a week. A tour at night would be beautiful at sunset, and with cooler temperatures after dark, the wildlife would be much more active. Our museum experience gave us a much deeper understanding of and appreciation for the desert. That’s a good thing too since we’ve spent most of 2023 camping in and driving through the Chihauhan, Sonoran, and Colorado Deserts.
