Tohono Chul
Park
Tucson,
Arizona
June 2008
Tohono Chul sits on a 49-acre property in
Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. It opened to the public in 1985
as a 37-acre desert preserve and has added 12 acres and
numerous plants and displays since.
I worked at this park around 1990
and at the time it was content to be a quiet little
piece of desert outside of the city. The intervening
nearly 20 years have seen a remarkable change, all for
the better I’m pleased to say. Then it was a few paths
meandering through mostly native desert, today it has
become a public garden worth traveling to visit. In
its April 2008 issue, the magazine Travel and Leisure
included Tohono Chul in an article on the world’s
great botanical gardens. Including it among the worlds
great botanic gardens is a bit of a stretch, but it is
very nice.
The walkway to the entrance is lush, surrounded by
wildflower beds. I realize the fence is probably necessary
to keep rabbits out, but I wish they could do something a
bit nicer.
Several miles of trails still
meander through beautiful desert
but there are now beautifully
landscaped gardens as well.
The Santa Fe style adobe
building in the middle of the park was built in 1937 as a
home but has now been converted into the Exhibit House,
with changing exhibitions and a museum store.
There are a number of water
features scattered around the grounds. My favorite is this
'Water Wall'.
Near the entrance, a
hacienda-style home, built in 1963, has been converted into
the "Tea Room". It features a grand entryway into a
beautiful courtyard. This is probably my favorite public
garden restaurant. The laid-back elegance and fantastic
setting are unmatched for me.
Tohono Chul has grown into a
very nice garden in its short life. They have a few nice
interpretive signs but need more to really make it
educational for visitors. The grounds are lovely to walk
through but wayfinding is difficult. Visitors need more
guidance than just a paper map to enjoy all the park has to
offer. This is a problem for lots of gardens and there are
no easy answers, but providing a recommended route through
the gardens would help. People who know the garden well,
know what would appeal to the average visitor. Find a way
to help them see it. Despite these minor quibbles, a visit
here is a highly enjoyable way to spend a few hours.
To see more photos of Tohono Chul Park,
click here.
Click here to visit the homepage of Tohono
Chul.