Last Updated: May 4, 2026
So much of travel moves at a pace set by logistics — the next destination, the checkout time, the reservation that can’t be changed. The Sonoran Desert has a way of overruling all of that. You slow to three-quarter time whether you intend to or not, because the things worth seeing here don’t reveal themselves to anyone moving too fast. The cactus wren sitting three feet away on a saguaro arm. The bobcat stretched out in a patch of morning sun. The Costa’s hummingbird hovering in front of a blooming aloe, iridescent purple gorget catching the light. You have to be moving at the desert’s pace to see any of it. Continuing our spring stay at Western Way RV Resort near Tucson Mountain Park, we had two more weeks to let the desert set the tempo — with a day trip south to the artist colony at Tubac and daily visits to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum thrown in. Jake set the pace each morning, and it was always exactly right.
Western Way RV Resort is located on Tucson’s west side near Tucson Mountain Park, Saguaro National Park West, and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum — check wwrvresort.com for current rates and availability. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is at 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, AZ 85743; open daily — check desertmuseum.org for current hours and admission. Arrive at opening time for the best wildlife activity and smallest crowds. Tubac is about 45 miles south of Tucson on I-19; the Flying Leap Vineyards tasting room is in the Tubac village center.
Western Way RV Resort
This was our third stay at Western Way, and it keeps earning its place on the return list. It is an adult-only resort on the west side of Tucson, close to Tucson Mountain Park and within easy reach of Saguaro National Park West and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum — the exact cluster of things we want to do every time we are in Tucson. The resort has full hookups, reliable WiFi, a pool, and a hot tub. Some sites can feel a bit close if you land between two park models, but our site this visit faced west and the sunsets out the window were compensation enough for any proximity issues. The trails around the property run out into genuine desert — on any given morning walk with Jake we might encounter rattlesnakes on the path, coyotes working the washes, hawks overhead, Gambel’s quail families darting through the brush, or the occasional bobcat moving along the rock faces. It is one of those RV parks where the surrounding landscape is as much an amenity as anything on the property.
Tubac, Arizona
About 45 miles south of Tucson on I-19, Tubac is one of the oldest European settlements in Arizona — established as a Spanish presidio in 1752, it predates Tucson by more than two decades. Today it is best known as an arts colony, with galleries, studios, and shops spread through a compact village center that manages to feel genuinely unhurried. Michael first visited in 1983, and while there has been development and the range of galleries and restaurants has expanded, the essential character of the place has stayed intact. We stopped at the Flying Leap Vineyards tasting room, which sources its grenache grapes from the Willcox wine country east of Tucson. Sandy was particularly taken with their habanero-infused wine — a warm, fruity grenache that builds slowly into a genuine spicy finish. Not what you expect from an Arizona wine tasting, in the best possible way.
Spring in the Desert
April and May bring the desert to peak color. Wildflower season technically peaks in March, but the cactus blooms and later-season species carry the show well into spring, and the wildlife activity that comes with all those flowers makes the desert feel almost crowded with life — even when you are the only person on the trail. Coyotes move at dawn and dusk, pausing to watch you with that characteristic mix of curiosity and calculation. We had hoped for a strong lupine and poppy year but the winter had been dry and we arrived slightly early for the peak; what we found instead was an abundance of Parry’s penstemon, aloe blooms drawing hummingbirds in numbers, desert primrose, and cactus flowers just beginning to open.
Aloe in bloom is one of the most reliable hummingbird attractors in the desert garden, and the plants around Western Way and Tucson Mountain Park were covered with flowers. We spent more than a few mornings sitting still with a camera waiting for hummingbirds to work the tall orange spikes — the results were worth the patience.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is not really a museum in any conventional sense — it is an outdoor living natural history institution spread across 98 acres of Sonoran Desert, with living plants, free-roaming wildlife, and enclosed habitats for species that can no longer survive in the wild. We have been coming here for years, and Michael has been visiting since the early 1980s. The trick is to arrive when the gates open. The animals are most active in the first two hours of morning, the light is best, and the crowds are thin. We would get there with coffee and a toasted bagel and settle in near a feeding area or flowering plant and simply wait. The desert museum rewards exactly the same patience the desert itself does — slow down, stay still, and the wildlife comes to you.
Birds
The cactus wren — Arizona’s state bird — is not remotely shy at the Desert Museum. They land on the nearest saguaro arm and regard you with complete indifference, which makes them a pleasure to photograph. The American kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America, and watching one perched on top of a saguaro with a white-winged dove somewhere nearby in its field of view captures the whole predator-prey dynamic of the desert in a single frame. Scott’s oriole, vivid yellow and black, is a spring and summer visitor to the Sonoran Desert and one of the more striking birds in the region.
Coyotes
Coyotes are everywhere in the Tucson area, and the Desert Museum has both free-roaming individuals who have figured out that the museum grounds are a productive hunting territory and a fenced habitat for long-term resident coyotes that cannot be returned to the wild. The free-roamers are the more surprising encounter — we came out to the Jeep one afternoon and found one working the parking lot not ten feet away, completely unbothered. The resident coyotes in their habitat are equally comfortable with human presence and make for excellent close-range photography.
Large Mammals
Many of the Desert Museum’s larger animals are rescued individuals that cannot survive in the wild. The mountain lion in the exhibit arrived as a 15-pound orphaned cub from the San Jose, California area — now fully grown and entirely at home in the desert habitat the museum provides. The desert bighorn sheep occupy rocky terrain that closely resembles their natural range in the Sky Islands and surrounding ranges. The black bear rounds out a predator-prey community that gives a real sense of the full ecological web of the Sonoran Desert, even if the circumstances that brought each animal here were not ideal. The rock squirrels, it should be noted, are entirely wild and entirely aware that the museum grounds are an excellent place to be.
Bobcats
The bobcats at the Desert Museum are always a highlight. They have a large, naturalistic habitat and on cool spring mornings they find a sunny rock and stretch out in a way that makes it impossible not to stop and watch for a while. They are not indifferent to human observers the way the coyotes are — they are simply relaxed, which is a different and more satisfying thing.
Hummingbirds
The Desert Museum’s hummingbird enclosure and the flowering plants throughout the grounds put on a show in spring that is difficult to match anywhere in the country. We photographed five species over our visits. Anna’s hummingbird is a year-round resident we also see at our feeder in San Diego — familiar and always beautiful. The broad-billed hummingbird, with its vivid iridescent blue-green body and red bill, is primarily a Mexican species that reaches the northern edge of its range in Arizona. The rufous is a migrant passing through northbound, feisty and orange. The Costa’s was the standout of this visit — we found a male actively defending a flowering area while a female was building a nest nearby, and watched the whole scene play out over two mornings. And then there was one more: a female hummingbird that we tentatively identified as a Lucifer hummingbird, a rare species at the very northern edge of its range in southeastern Arizona. We couldn’t be certain, but the field marks were compelling, and sometimes you take the exciting ID and move on.
Practical Tips
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum timing: Arrive at opening — ideally the first 30 minutes — for the best wildlife activity and smallest crowds. By mid-morning the heat quiets the animals and the visitor numbers climb. Bring coffee and settle near a flowering plant or feeding station for 15 minutes before moving on; patience produces better encounters than covering ground quickly. Western Way RV Resort is adult-only and fills quickly in spring — book well ahead if visiting March through May. The west-facing sites offer the best sunset views. Tubac day trip: About 45 miles south of Tucson on I-19, plan 2–3 hours to walk the galleries comfortably. The Flying Leap Vineyards tasting room is a worthwhile stop; their Willcox-sourced wines are good and the habanero infusion is a genuine surprise. Tubac is free to visit; individual galleries set their own hours. Hummingbird photography: The best conditions are early morning with overcast or side light — direct midday sun blows out the iridescent colors. Sit still near a flowering aloe or penstemon and let the birds come to you rather than chasing them. Wildlife on the trails: The paths around Western Way RV Resort and Tucson Mountain Park have rattlesnakes, coyotes, and bobcats. Stay alert, keep Jake on a leash near rocky terrain, and enjoy the fact that you are walking through a genuinely wild desert.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum worth visiting? Without hesitation, yes — it is one of the finest natural history institutions in the American Southwest and one of the best wildlife photography venues in Arizona. It is not a conventional museum or a zoo in the traditional sense; it is a living, largely outdoor experience set in genuine Sonoran Desert, with resident wildlife, naturalistic habitats, and an extraordinary diversity of birds that move through freely. We have visited many times and it has never disappointed.
What is Tubac, Arizona known for? Tubac is one of Arizona’s oldest communities, established as a Spanish presidio in 1752. Today it is best known as an arts colony — a compact village of galleries, studios, and shops south of Tucson. It is unhurried and genuinely pleasant to walk, with a range of fine art, pottery, jewelry, and photography. The surrounding Santa Cruz Valley wine country makes it a natural pairing with a stop at one of the local tasting rooms.
How many hummingbird species can you see at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum? The number varies by season, but spring visits commonly produce five or more species. The flowering plants and feeding stations throughout the grounds create ideal conditions. On our spring 2021 visits we photographed Anna’s, broad-billed, rufous, Costa’s, and a probable female Lucifer — five species in a single stay, which is exceptional by any standard.
Are there dangerous animals on the trails around Tucson Mountain Park? Yes — western diamondback rattlesnakes, Mojave rattlesnakes, coyotes, bobcats, and Gila monsters all occur in the area. Standard desert trail precautions apply: stay on marked trails, watch where you step, avoid putting hands or feet where you cannot see, and keep pets on leash near rocky terrain. The wildlife is part of what makes the area exceptional; treated with appropriate respect, it is not a reason to avoid the trails.
When is the best time to visit Tucson for wildlife and wildflowers? March through May offers the best combination of wildflowers, wildlife activity, comfortable temperatures, and long days. Spring migration brings the greatest hummingbird diversity. Summer brings intense heat and monsoon storms — spectacular for photography but demanding for hiking. Fall is underrated: temperatures drop, the desert greens up after the monsoon, and the crowds thin considerably. Winter is quiet and surprisingly beautiful, with excellent bird diversity and cool clear days.
