Traveling has become my life-style of choice. That fact, coupled with my general interest in history and science, means I frequent a lot of museums. It has been my experience that there is something to learn or, at minimum, a new experience to be found in all of them.   However, there are a few – very few – museums that go far beyond “good” to the rarified realm of “GREAT.” So how do you know the difference between a “good” museum and a “GREAT” museum? At the end of your time in a “good” museum you appreciate what you have learned or, the new perspective on what you already knew. While, at the end of the “GREAT” museum visit you don’t want to leave. You find yourself thinking of reasons why you don’t have to go or trying to conjure ways to plan a return for more. A “GREAT” museum acts as a reference book for the subjects displayed at the museum. When I am hiking in or driving through a desert my experiences at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum are my guide. My experiences there provide a frame of reference for understanding all of my desert experiences.

I first visited the Sonora Desert Museum over 30 years ago during a day off from a “Corporate America” National Sales Meeting held in the Tucson Area. Having been raised in the Midwest and lived in the Southeast and Northeast and Dallas Texas, I was unfamiliar with the desert or the plants and animals that not only survive but actually thrive in this harsh environment.   It was at the Sonora Desert Museum where I was first introduced to and fell in love with the desert ecosystem.

The Sonora Desert Museum is not a museum in the classical sense. It is a unique composite of plant, animal and geologic collections with the goal of making the Sonora Desert accessible, understandable and treasured. The staff is succeeding in that goal. The museum was named as one of the top 10 museums in the country by Trip Advisor in 2014 and earlier this year the Desert Museum was inducted into the newly created Trip Advisor Hall of Fame for receiving their Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years. This puts the museum in the top 1% of all attractions Trip Advisor rates worldwide.

At the end of my visit (Had an appointment in Phoenix an hour and a half away) I found myself planning my next visit as I was leaving the parking lot. If you are anywhere close to Tucson, AZ. take the time to visit this place. I am sure that you have heard people comment on the “beauty of the desert.” If you don’t understand that and want to know what you are missing, then a visit to The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is a must.

While you are there, you may want to take a side trip to the Saguaro National Park (West) just a mile or so down the road from the Desert Museum. They offer over 40 miles of great hiking trails in the Sonora Desert on 25,000 acres having over 2,000,000 Saguaro Cacti embellishing the desert floor and hills alike.