Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The museum opened in 1952 with a narrow remit that it has kept: only species native to the Sonoran Desert region, shown in habitats resembling where they live, and about eighty-five percent of the site is outdoors. That means mountain lions, coyotes, javelina, prairie dogs, hummingbirds in a walk-in aviary, and a reptile house with the rattlesnake species of the region. It is regularly ranked among the best zoos in the country despite being small by collection size, on the strength of that focus. Raptor free flight shows in the cooler months release hawks and owls to fly over the visitors without tethers or a fixed course. The setting is desert with saguaro forest and the Tucson Mountains behind.

What you actually see

• Only Sonoran Desert species - the museum's founding restriction.
• About eighty-five percent outdoors - habitats rather than cages.
• Raptor free flight - untethered, over the visitors, in cool months.
• Saguaro forest around it - the desert itself as the setting.

When to go

October to April; summer heat makes an outdoor site punishing. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Summer visits mean walking outdoors in extreme heat - go at opening or not at all. Raptor flights run only in the cooler months. Animals shelter and are less visible in the heat of the day. It is a drive from Tucson.

Nearby

Saguaro National Park West surrounds it; Old Tucson is close.