City: Phoenix, AZ

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (480) 941-1225

Address: 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy.

Insider Pick:

Description: There’s no better place to see the Sonoran Desert in full, colorful bloom than the Desert Botanical Garden. It is one of the nation’s few public gardens dedicated to desert plants. Its winding trails pleasantly take you through veritable forests and introduce you to 4,000 species of cacti, succulents, trees, and flowers. In spring, native wildflowers are also in bloom.The garden opened in 1939 as both a showcase and conservation headquarters. Today its collection includes several rare, threatened, and endangered Southwestern species in addition to common plants. After a leisurely morning or afternoon in the garden, you will be able to recognize and reel off names of flora such as the ocotillo, the jumping cholla, desert marigolds, the creosote bush, the palo verde tree, the yucca plant, and more. Each trail has signage not only bearing the names but also explaining the plants’ hardiness and desert life in general. Often you will find garden volunteers at information stations displaying specimens you can touch.The garden is organized around multiple trails. They explain how desert plants are used for food, fibers, and construction. The Sonoran Desert Nature Loop Trail is a quarter-mile hillside trail focusing on the interactions among plants, birds, reptiles, insects, and mammals sharing the desert. The Desert Discovery Loop Trail features thousands of desert plants from around the world. On the trail are the Cactus and Succulent galleries, which showcase plants inside greenhouses. At the garden you’ll find a visitor center, a gift shop, a cafe, and a plant shop, which has a wonderful selection of plants to buy—instructions included. Also on the grounds is Webster Auditorium, one of the few remaining authentic examples of Pueblo Revival architecture in central Arizona.Online admission is $15 for adults, $13.50 for seniors, $7.50 for students, $5 for children ages 3 to 12, and free for those younger than 3. The garden frequently offers guided tours, schedules outdoor concerts, and hosts other nature events or art exhibitions; more information is available on the garden hotline, (480) 941-1217.