A must see destination in Arizona, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum!

I recently found my favorite museum that I've ever visited & I wish I lived closer so I could buy a yearly membership to it because I would visit all the time. My family & I wanted to go on a small vacation for the holidays instead of doing a bunch of gifts so I planned a mini vacation to a city in our state that had several attractions we'd never been to before, one of those spots is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is so much more than just a museum it is a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum & art gallery. It is located at 2021 N Kinney Rd Tucson, AZ 85743.

It is a popular tourist type spot so I highly recommend getting there early to get a parking spot closer to the entrance, or if you don't mind a short hike there are parking lots a bit further back. We arrived shortly after they opened & the parking lot was already pretty full with a decent line at the ticket window. The line moved quickly & the staff were all very friendly, the place is big enough that even with the number of people visiting you didn't feel crowded or overwhelmed which is nice. It also helps in spots like this when everyone takes their turn to look at exhibits, etc. without cutting in front of others so that made everything run smoothly. The website states it takes about 2-3 hours to see everything & it is quite true, depending on how much time you spend at each stop you might be there for even longer. A large majority of the museum is outdoors so if you aren't a fan of the heat the best time to visit is in the winter/spring months to avoid the Arizona summer heat. We visited on a beautiful slightly cloudy winter morning & the weather was perfect for visiting. 

The aquarium didn't open for another ten minutes after we arrived so our first stop was to the reptile house where we were able to see a large assortment of snakes, scorpions, frog/toads and more. We even had a chance to see one of the staff members feeding the toads which is always neat. My favorite enclosure in the reptile house were the walking sticks (or stick bugs), I haven't seen one out in the wild since I was a kid & I love how they look so getting to see a bunch of them up close was fantastic. After exiting we went straight for the aquarium & got lucky because the only other person in it was a staff member doing a bit of maintenance on one of the tanks so we had the whole place to ourselves. There was an assortment of fish both native to Arizona & non-native species such as seahorses to watch swim. No matter what aquarium I visit, I always enjoy spending a few minutes in front of the seahorses, it is so cute to watch them float around & grab onto the seaweed/plants with their tails. 

Shortly after we left the aquarium it was about time for the birds of prey show they host almost daily, but we decided to use that time to check out a few of the other exhibits since could see that 90% of the visitors there that day were headed to the show. We walked around the cactus botanical garden a little bit & I snapped some photos of the wild birds along with the cactus on display. They have multiple gardens around the museum, you can grab a map before heading into the museum that will show you where everything is & label it so you know where you are. Next I wanted to visit the hummingbird aviary, you actually get to go inside & be in an indoor garden with the hummingbirds flying right next to your head. I've been in bird aviaries before, none of which have had hummingbirds and I love them so I was overly excited. We spent quite a bit of time inside of it watching the hummingbirds, relaxing on the benches talking a little & of course I was snapping photos the whole time. 

Right next to the hummingbird aviary is an art galley, the art work was gorgeous & most of it featured native wildlife or scenery and everything is available for purchase. There was also a small section with trinkets like postcards, 3D printed items & more. The restaurant they had there smelled amazing, so if you get hungry while there stop in for a bite to eat or visit their café for a snack + coffee. They have an underground animal area where you actually head underground to check out a few small enclosures to see critters that you don't typically get to see. Then we explored a bit more of the gardens & went to the bird aviary that has bigger birds such as cardinals, quail & more which of course I loved and we spent time at some of the benches just watching the different birds. 

In total you will go on a hike that is about two miles long, while viewing wildlife habitats set up along the way with animals such as javelina, bobcats, bears, wolves and more. They also have another underground section that takes you into a cave area & a mine where they have minerals on display. Just writing about the Sonora desert museum makes me want to go back again! There was so much to do & so much to see, it was quite the adventure. If we lived closer I would get a membership as mentioned, because it would be a great place to go for a mini hike for exercise while getting to see some neat stuff. They had some other great things to do, but if I talk about it anymore this post is going to be gigantic so if you are ever in the area you need to check this place out & enjoy it for yourself, you won't regret it. Admission is $29.95 per adult & $19.95 for kids - If you live in AZ & are a bit short on cash but still want to visit this museum they are part of the Culture Pass program through the Arizona public library system, you can visit your local libraries website to see which location has a culture pass for this zoo - the library allows you to "check out" 2 passes per family per month through their program (1 pass at a time) for free & each pass gets you two free admissions into where ever the pass is for. 

If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

Which part of this museum do you think you would be most interested in? What would you want to see first? 

**This is not a sponsored post, my family & I decided to visit the museum while we were in the area and paid to visit the museum. I enjoy sharing some of the fun places we've been & things we've seen with my readers so they can enjoy it too if they get a chance.**