The Sonoran Desert Museum is a botanical garden, zoo and natural history museum all in one. Their goal is to inspire people to live in harmony with the life of the Sonoran Desert. The museum is on the other side of the Saguaro National Park from our Arizona B&B. It is an easy and enjoyable drive across the park, about 15 miles, and the museum is not to miss.

The animals there are in distinctly realistic housing, and that is all part of their goal, to re-create real environments for study. So the visitor finds themselves in close contact with mountain lions, huge gila monster lizards and more. There are over 300 species of animal and 1200 plants. There are 2 miles of paths through 21 acres of desert landscape.

Events happening at the Sonoran Desert museum include “Running Wild” and “Live and on the Loose”. “Running Wild” is an “innovative live-animal demonstration that combines natural behaviors of small desert mammals, birds and reptiles with projected images, music and narration. In its inaugural year, the program will focus on fur, feathers and scales.” The presentation is daily except Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Warden Oasis Theater at 11 a.m.

“Live and on the Loose” is a live animal presentation that changes regularly. It is also at the Warden Oasis Theater at 12:15 pm and lasts for an hour. These could be great activities for after breakfast at our Arizona Bed and Breakfast.

If Geology is your thing, the museum has an extensive Sonoran Desert region gem, mineral, and fossil collection totaling 14,095 cataloged specimens, some of which are on display at the Earth Sciences Center. They also have a new vertebrate paleontology collection contains the first and only significant dinosaur skeleton from Southern Arizona.

Another example of a great way to explore the desert around our Arizona Bed & Breakfast.

Did you know that our Arizona B&B is only 3.5 miles from the Saguaro East National Park ?

The desert contains the iconic Giant Saguaro Cactus, which so many of us associate with the American Southwest and it’s deserts. The Saguaro National Park protects these cacti, and it is lucky they do, for the Giant Saguaro only grows in a very limited region of the world.

The Saguaro East National Park is 3.5 miles from our B&B

As we talked about in earlier posts, it is the deserts ability to resurrect itself which has always made it a magical place. Even when it looks lifeless and desolate, there is activity waiting just underneath the surface, waiting for water.

Growing at Saguaro National Park in the Rincon Mountain District (which is at the East entrance near our Arizona Bed & Breakfast), there are more than 1,162 species of plants ranging from desert vegetation such as cacti, ocotillo, and creosote in the lower elevations all the way to ponderosa pine, oak, and Douglas-fir in the upper elevations of the Rincon Mountains. The Tucson Mountain District is home to 512 species of plants.

This area of Saguaro National Park varies greatly in elevation as well. Lows are 2,500 feet elevation to the tops of ridges at 8,666 feet elevation. The varied elevation within the park’s boundaries allows for a great variety of different species, found in 6 different plant communities. Saguaro National Park is thought to be home to ten species of Threatened, Endangered, or Sensitive plants. Just like all of the US, non-native species of plants have made their way into the park, as many as 47 varieties. The Exotic Plant program, with help from volunteers, maps and removes non-native species from both districts of the park.

We hope you will come visit our Arizona Bed and Breakfast for a while, and explore the unique beauty and life of the Saguaro Desert.