Tour the Cienega Watershed

Sponsored by Cienega Watershed Partnership

• Location: Arizona
• Travel Type: Driving
• Tour Duration: 2 hours
• Language:

About This Tour
Tour a green oasis within the Sonoran desert teeming with plant and animal biodiversity and human history. Explore five of the rarest plant communities in the arid Southwest — an Eden just outside of high desert Tucson.

Drive down the Sonoita Mountain View Highway and witness the many different habitats along the way: grasslands, wetlands, mesquite tree forests, and springs shrouded by cottonwood and willow trees. You'll learn about the area's important biodiversity of plants and animals. It's home to the rare Western yellow-billed cuckoo and Southwestern willow flycatcher birds, plus the federally endangered snoring Chiricahua leopard frog. 

You'll hear history peppered throughout the tour on the region's mining, ranching, outdoor recreation and wine making. It'll spur you to appreciate the power of nature and the resilience of the people who lived, and still live, in this unique corner of the world.

Tour Sponsors
Cienega Watershed Partnership with contributions from:
·     Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area
·     Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy
·     Empire Ranch Foundation
·     Pima County Natural Resources, Parks, and Recreation
·     Bureau of Land Management
·     Arizona Land and Water Trust
·     Vera Earl Ranch
·     National Center for Scientific Research (France)

To learn more about the Cienega Watershed Partnership, visit our website at: www.cienega.org