Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson AZ

The perfect place to get a taste of the desert and its wildlife. The paths are easy to walk on, but wheelchair users can also easily explore the facility.
Very friendly staff welcome the visitor.

This museum was a nice place to visit; great facts. There were separate indoor (air conditioned) exhibits that featured the critters, as well as the outdoor trails that you can follow to see the desert plants & landscape. Throughout the museum, there were tables that featured something. We stopped to hear about a red-tailed hawk. We visited in September; the temperature was high 80's/low 90's. I was thankful that the breeze occasionally blew through the trails, which cooled us from the heat of the day.

Absolutely recommend for families. The aviary's were my favorite attraction, along with the mountain lion! Clean premises, friendly knowledgeable staff with wildlife presentations. There is food here; burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, flatbreads to name a few. 145pm is when the grill closes, 2pm is when the museum closed. Really cool museum that opens at 730am.

My husband and I visited this museum yesterday. We moved to Arizona 5 months ago, and I would recommend visiting this museum to other newcomers. Arizona residents get a discounted ticket price. Overall the experience was enjoyable. The Cactus Garden was wonderful, beautifully maintained with many different types of healthy-looking cactuses. We had never seen Javelina before, so it was fun to be able to get a glimpse of them in person. The Bighorn Sheep seemed unfazed by the appearances of all of the visitors. The Black Bear seemed rather sad to me, and it made me sad to see him in there all alone. The enclosures of the outside animals were decent sizes and appropriate-looking habitats. The inside exhibits were rather small, and I feel that the snakes need to be in bigger enclosures. It didn't appear that they had much room to move around. The eels peeking out of the sand was surprising and amazing! There were many guides interspersed throughout the outside area, and they were friendly and shared lots of interesting tidbits. We had lunch at the Ironwood Terraces, and the food was tasty and reasonably priced. My husband had a cheeseburger and I had chicken tenders, both with fries. The total was between $30-$40. We spent 3 hours and enjoyed our visit.

Very beautiful scenery, exhibits and incredibly educational experience. This is an amazing experience for every resident or tourist to Tucson. Go show some love to our stingrays! 12/10

Overall a beautiful and informative experience! I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that all of the inside exhibits were rather small. The aquarium was okay, but again it was rather small. There is so much listed on the website, the place would have to be enormous to contain rooms and rooms of exhibits. I was saddened to see how small the individual cases were for the snakes and other critters. Barely enough room for the snakes to move around. I feel badly for the Black bear and Bighorn Sheep that were each alone in their habitats. Their habitats were a decent size, but the bear especially seemed rather sad. The hummingbird aviary had lots of shade and spaces for the hummingbirds to hide in, but there didn't seem to be very many birds. My husband and I enjoyed walking through the desert habitat. We had not seen Javelina in person before, so that was a fun new experience. The Cactus Garden was terrific. So many types of cactus I had not seen before, and there were lots of signs explaining the different types. It is beautifully maintained and everything is so healthy-looking! I took lots of photos there! There were staff spaced out all along the outside areas, and they were very friendly and shared lots of good tidbits. We had lunch at the Ironwood Terraces. Food was tasty and reasonably priced, totaling between $30-$40 for the 2 of us. My husband had a burger and I had chicken tenders, both came with fries. We spent about 3 hours in total, and we're glad we decided to check it out. We've only lived in Arizona for 5 months, and I would recommend it to other newcomers.

Great place to spend the day with the grandchildren. They loved feeding the stingrays and there was even a "cave like" play area that was a nice break. Lots of wildlife exhibits and all at the right height for the kids to enjoy. `highly recommend.

Great way to learn about flora and fauna of the Sonora Desert. Our only complaint was that trails were not well marked, making it difficult at times to follow the map. Also not sure about the wisdom of penning migratory birds into an aviary. Other than that, a great experience.

Absolutely the most beautiful zoo/museum I've seen.fully worth the price of admission. I spent about 5 hours here going around the desert trail and watching animals. I was here for 5 hours and could have stayed longer if I read more signs and actually chatted with some of the park officials, who seemed rly knowledgeable. Food is fairly overpriced but it's a museum so that's fair. Several water stations located around the desert areas and around the paved complex which is very very useful on hotter days, i'm sure. Staff is very attentive to the conditions of guests as most of it is outside and they want to make sure people are not getting dehydrated. Highly recommend a water bottle and hiking boots, as this is more of an extremely pretty and immersive hike than a museum. The mix of wild animals and enclosed animals on the same property is super unique and makes the complex feel incredibly alive. I cried several times here because it is That Pretty. MAKE THE VISIT.

The best place to see the local wildlife. I don't see every animal every time, so it is worth going a few times in different seasons. Wear comfortable shoes, it will be a walk.

Had fun but didn't see any animals. The map was confusing and signage didn't help much. Please improve the signs with more markers and where they are going to.

So much better than anyone ever says! If you like rocks or animals bugs or creepy crawlies butterflies to frogs this place has everything to keep you busy all day! Bring snacks and water there's a lot of walking between things. And don't forget to grab a burger at the restaurant. No straws but kids flavored water in colorful spill proof cups is the way to go. And don't worry if you didn't bring yours they have them for sale in the restaurant! Best in town experience in the last 20 years living here! I will be back often to this place!

Enjoyed our visit a bunch. The drive to get out there can get a bit sketchy but so worth it.

This is a super cool place. The mineral cave and the hummingbird aviary were my favorite! I recommend going early when it's hot like this, but I'd go back again and again!

Great museum. Pro tip check your local library for culture passes to gain two free admissions.