We make it a "must see" each time we are in the area.

Intermixed with walking through the desert plant life are exhibits of live animals who actually live within the desert environment. Of course, you can also see some wild wildlife roaming free as this is just an area within the real desert.

There is a small mine exhibit, easy to walk through with cased exhibits of the various gems and semi-precious stones that are actually mined in the desert area. At the exit from the mine exhibit is an area of small rocks which the museum seeds with small semi-precious stones for you to search for and they let each person keep a couple of the stones they find. This is fun for the kids who generally like to look for such things.

Lots of docents are within the grounds to explain things and answer questions. They day we were there one docent had a screech owl out where you could really get an up close and personal look at it, plus learn about it from the docent.

A nice job of labeling the plant life throughout the museum, although you have to remember the names as they just label some so that at some point you can find the name of any plant you see.

Go early in the day before it becomes too hot as there is no shade as you walk through the museum, and as the day heats up it can get very hot. We went in late October and were there at opening time. It was very pleasant. At that time of year, the afternoon highs appear to get into the 70's so that even afternoons would probably not be too bad, unless you're subject to sunburning very easily.

Think of it as a 21-acre enclave of the Sonoran Desert that has been set up almost as a ''living museum'' with about two miles of pathways passing through a small zoo made up mostly of animals that have been rescued from certain death, including pumas, prairie dogs, also beaver, river otter and desert fish in an underwater exhibit. There is also a Hummingbird Aviary and the area''s best display of cacti and succulent plants to feast your eyes on. There are over 1,300 kinds of plants and 300 species of animals in total.

The museum also has a fantastic permanent collection of locally-occurring minerals, which is all the more impressive due to its narrow focus. These are situated in a cave which is atmospherically lit to add to the wonder of the exhibits on show.

For relaxation from the heat, or for a spot of refuelling you can enjoy an espresso at Phoebe’s Coffee Bar on the verandah, or go the whole hog at Ironwood Terraces Restaurant.

If you want to see the full glory of the flora, fauna, and geology of the Sonoran Desert in one place there can be no better place than this museum!

Check out the Desert Museum website for more info!