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Adult Classes and Trips
Saguaro Fruit HarvestJune 20, 2026 | | High summer is the beginning of the O’odham calendar, as this is the time to harvest saguaro fruit. Spend the morning gathering fruit in the O’odham manner, using a harvesting pole made from the ribs of the giant cactus. The class begins with a blessing and song by our O’odham friends who share their family stories about the importance of the saguaro. We learn about different ways that the fruit is prepared and preserved, and about the animals that use the saguaro for food and shelter. This class will take place entirely outdoors at a site a few miles from the Museum. Price and Registration Details |
Prickly Pear Harvest
August 16, 2026 .jpg) | August is the season that the beautiful red fruit of the prickly pear cactus ripens. Join us in harvesting this fruit, cleaning it, practicing three different ways of rendering juice from it, and learning how to make jelly. But, the fruit is only half of the edible goods! The tender green pads can also be eaten. There are oh-so-many prickly pear species! Find out about our local ones, as well as those from southern Mexico that have been bred for over a millennia to be spineless. We’ll show you how to select, clean, grill, and pickle the pads, as well as share other natural history bits surrounding the nopal. Price and Registration Details |
Northern Spain via the Slow TrainSeptember 10 – 24, 2026
.jpg) | Cider, Bronze-Age Castros and Mining, Paleolithic Caves, Sea Cliffs, el Camino de Santiago, the Guggenheim, Iberian Geology, Fishing Villages, Local Wines, Asturian and Basque Gastronomy The rain in Spain falls mainly north of the plain. And that is why the land is emerald green. This is the land that the Celts originated from, and that the Basques continue to inhabit. On this tour we learn about Bronze Age castros, Roman gold and iron mining, and Asturian and Cantabrian traditional lifeways. As a counterpoint to the old, we visit Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum of modern art, and learn about and taste Basque culture. We explore the hinterlands of farms, forests and hamlets, crisscrossing the Camino de Santiago. Our coastal route follows the narrow-gauge local train, the FEVE, from which we hop on and off for stays at seaside towns, where we drink apple cider and enjoy regional seafood and Asturian fabada. Then there is the fairytale scenery: the northern edge of the peninsula falls dramatically into the Cantabrian Sea in steeply tilted rock walls. To complement the landscape, we share lessons on the geology of the Iberian Peninsula. Itinerary and Trip Details Prices and Registration Details |
Rancho de la Osa
November 6 - 8, 2026 | | It rests in the desert grasslands along Arizona’s southern border with the dramatic backdrop of Baboquivari Peak always in view. On this tour, we visit the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, which has breeding programs for the endangered pronghorn and Masked Bobwhite Quail and offers birding for many species including Herons, Gray Hawks, Vermilion Fly Catchers, Loggerhead Shrikes and Golden Eagles. We will take in a lot of local history, learning about the Spanish Barb horses that descend from Fr. Kino’s herd, about the Mexican Revolution as it was played out here, and about old ghost towns and mining camps. We take a side trip to see the border town of Sasabe, sprinkle geology lessons in, have a morning free for optional activities such as riding e-bikes or horses, and enjoy fabulous meals. Come nighttime, we are treated to cowboy poetry and a star-studded winter sky. Itinerary and Trip Details Prices and Registration Details |
Rainwater Harvesting Tour
November 14, 2026  | In the Australian Outback everyone does it. In the Sonoran Desert the rain, in vain, falls mainly down the drain. But, not for everyone! See how this bounty can be harvested in a small park, on neighborhood tree-lined streets, in urban homes. Calculate how much water can be collected off of your own roof and find out about various options for storage and diversion. Participants will learn about and see many strategies they can apply at their own home and neighborhoods. The tour will be entirely outdoors. Prices and Registration Details |
Black Lava White Sand
December 8 - 11, 2026  | Explore El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with retired Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum cultural conservationist Jesús García and geomorphologist/anthropologist Fred Nials. The volcanic landscape of the Pinacates includes huge maar craters, two varieties of lava flows, cinder cones, and majestic shifting dunes hosting their own specialized ecosystems. This young volcanic field is adjacent to the Sea of Cortez, which, because of extremely low tides, allows viewing of its marvelous intertidal marine life at the Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans. Uniting the desert and the beach is Campo La Salina, one of the most important natural salt reserves in Mexico. Located in Gulfo de Santa Clara where natural freshwater springs and saltwater meet, this layer of salt is sacred to the Tohono O’odham and is an important oasis along the ancient salt pilgrimage trail to the sea. Registration is not yet open for this trip, but you may sign up to be notified when it opens by adding your name to the list below. Notification list |
Land of the Seri
February 18 - 22, 2027  | Explore the world of the Seri people. Our guide, retired Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum cultural conservationist Jesús García, enthusiastically shares with us the culture of these desert people as well as the natural and geological history of the Central Gulf Coast subdivision of the Sonoran Desert. Our voyage of discovery includes the Seri Museum in Nuevo Bahía Kino, a visit to the Prescott College Research Station, a panga ride to the mangroves of Isla Tiburón, birding in the estuary of Laguna de la Cruz, a walk in a cardón forest, and, of course, meetings with the Seri people themselves, with a very special opportunity to participate in the Indigenous Language Day Festival. Our adventure also includes time on the beach at Kino Bay, with its intensely blue waters, as well as daily helpings of fresh seafood and opportunities to support the Seri by purchasing their handicrafts. Registration is not yet open for this trip, but you may sign up to be notified when it opens by adding your name to the list below. Notification list |
This is Baja
Ecology, Geology, Birding, Whale Watching, Cowboys, and Ethnobotany
March 26 - April 8, 2027  | Led by the incomparable Jesús García and geologist/raconteur, Fred Nials, we travel by motorcoach down the entire length of the Baja Peninsula. The fertile Valle Guadalupe of grape and olive orchards leads into the captivating Cataviña desert with amazing forests of boojum, elephant trees, and cardón. We dedicate a full day to Guerrero Negro and Laguna Ojo de Liebre, one of the world's premier gray whale sanctuaries, offering close-up encounters that are legendary. Surrounded by a lush date palm oasis, our stay in San Ignacío includes a visit to pictographs, to the Tres Vírgenes volcanic field and the aquamarine coves and gorgeous white-sand beaches of the Gulf of California. We enjoy three nights on a beautiful beach resort at Loreto Bay, with visits to some of the oldest Franciscan and Jesuit Churches on the peninsula. An exhilarating day trip by panga to Isla Coronado, an uninhabited volcanic island known for its abundant wildlife, is just 7 miles off the coast. In the southern cape we experience the charming mining community of El Triumfo where we learn about the Vaquero culture. The artists’ havens of Todos Santos and San José del Cabo as well as the famous Los Arcos geologic formation at the southern tip of Baja culminate this outstanding tour of the entire peninsula! Our return is by air. Registration is not yet open for this trip, but you may sign up to be notified when it opens by adding your name to the list below. Notification list | |
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