Tohono Chul Park

Man do I love this place or what! Everything about it is wonderful.
* The people who work/​volunteer here tend to be older and are always, always, ALWAYS friendly. I’d like to adopt some of them as my grandparents.
* The gift shop, plant shop, and restaurant are lovely. The gift shop has more than plenty of appropriate gifts to choose from. Once at the restaurant, try the prickly pear lemonade! The plant shop has a wonderful selection, but my favourites are the succulents and cactus! There’s one lady in particular who will point out all the pettable cactus to you!
* The plants here are absolutely lovely and clearly well cared for.
— The Saguaro Cactus walk is educational and beautiful. If you’re a cactus lover like me, keep a watchful eye out for the itty bitty baby cacti that live close to the sides of the trail. They’re adorable.
— The water/​riverside area is absolutely beautiful and peaceful. I’ve seen people take senior pictures here.
— The zen garden and gathering garden are lovely little secluded spots to go and contemplate/​enjoy nature.
— everything else is so lovely and if you’re doing it right visiting this place should take 2 – 3 trips to truly enjoy everything. Of course, you must do so at least once every season!

Now this is the place you’ll want to visit if your looking to get ideas how your desert landscaped yard should look like. Very knowledgeable staff so take the docent led tour.

I was reading a review for this place that said it was better than the Desert Museum. True True True. the plants are fantastic. The lushness of the gardens. The labeling of the plants. The shaded and sunny areas. The benches to sit and enjoy the birds and butterflies. The sculptures. The garden shop with so many cactus and succulents and more. This place is incredible and a do-​not-​miss event in Tucson. We came on a day when there was a concert (included in admission) and it was classical guitar and had a big crowd. Top shelf, top quality, friendly people, Possibly the number one attraction in Tucson.

So here we go, what’s not to love about TCP? So close but you feel like your out in the middle of natures finest. The plants are spectacular and well taken care of and in a natural state, not all standing alone and trimmed into little balls.
The rock walls are an excellent example masonry done right, the steel work is done to perfection. The gallery is small and homey, lunch in the tearoom is always good idea. They have a good selection of plants even though the prices are a little high. When I go I always feel that I don’t want to leave, and leave myself asking «why don’t I come here more often».

Beautiful place! Helpful volunteers and gorgeous gardens. Student ID gets you a discount.

What a wonderful find on the NW side of town! My daughter and I got to check this park out after I had brunch event here.
I was pretty amazed at how well kept and beautiful this park is. Check out our pics! The docents/​guides were very informative and friendly too! Besides the desert landscape, there were some beautiful metal sculptures throughout the park that caught our eye. My favorite was of a horse that stood in the middle of an area surrounded by green metal cacti (which, btw, looks real!).
Another fave that my daughter & I enjoyed was the short Desert Trail hike. You can access the trail through the kids play area. Tall Sahuaro cactus and desert plants, and other little tidbits on the trail made it fun to walk through. There is also a spacious kid area with a pretty & colorful water fountain! Check out the Exhibition House… lots of cool art! Sculptures, paintings, history of Tucson & the surrounding areas! Beautiful picture window with a couch you could just lose track of time on! =)
The docent told us that there is a big event in mid-​May or June called Bloom Night. It’s their biggest event of the year where thousands of people visit to see a particular night-​blooming flower called the Queen of the Night (cereus Peniocereus greggii). The flowering plant can be found all around the park, and only blooms just this one night of the year! How cool is that! I signed up to be on their email list so I don’t miss it! I’ve also heard that they’ve got some cool events throughout the year too! Just check out their calendar online for more details!
As with most parks, there is a small admission fee. They have a restaurant and tea room, a great place to have brunch or tea within the park! If you love and appreciate our desert landscape, or even want some ideas for your garden, come by to check it out! You won’t be disappointed!

Located basically at Ina and Oracle this is a magical place to escape everyday life for a few hours. This park has something for everyone who likes the outdoors.
If you live in the area a membership is well worth the price. If you don’t a day admission is very reasonable.
This is one of my favorite places in Tucson.

Nothing bad to say about the park. First went to it to see bloom night and that was so fantastic I joined the park just so I could come back the next morning and see the blooms during the early morning sunlight. Staff is wonderful and it is a real oasis in the desert. Haven’t tried the tea room, but probably very good as well.
Hard to go wrong with visiting this park.

It is a nice park. You get to see local desert from a safe sidewalk.
The million lights event was okay. Lots of white lights decorating the trees and some cactus. Nice entertainment. A good fund raiser.
I was shocked at the poor condition of some of the cactus for sale. Wow! really? Given the nature of the park I expected them to all be in good condition but there were a bunch that were quite unhealthy.
One visit was enough for me.

Used to be a member here but it is a bit too far to drive. This garden is a treasure for all ages. I love the children’s section and the trails are handicap accessible. The Day of the Dead and Christmas events are a must see. I have eaten several times in the café and found it tasty. If you live in North Tucson, this would be a great place to hangout on a regular basis.

It’s a lovely park but the customer service leaves something to be desired. Had breakfast there with my husband and our baby, then paid $ 20 to enter the park and walk around. A few minutes after we bought our passes I realized I had an upset stomach. Our baby was fussing too, so we decided it might be better to come back and walk the grounds another time. I took the baby back out to the car and my husband stopped back at the admissions window to ask for a rain check or refund, explaining that I wasn’t feeling well. We were inside the park for all of TEN MINUTES, and the woman who had issued our tickets refused to refund us. Ridiculous. We’ve eaten at the restaurant and have spent money at the gift shops there but this experience makes me think twice about going back. A little common decency would have been nice — we clearly weren’t taking advantage of anything, and were in and out in a matter of minutes.

Great place to start your day. Delicious breakfast in a garden setting if you sit outside. It is a hidden gem.

I adore this place. It’s very close to my residence and it’s never crowded (except for the flower blooming once a year thing). I take all my out of town visitors here. It’s so cute and the gallery and nursery are nice. Love having brunch and walking around. If only Tucson aren’t so hot, I’d go more often!

Beautiful! A calm peaceful place to learn some Tucson growing facts, get ideas, and just wander.
Several little nooks I would love to just bring a book and hunker down to read for a couple hours.
Lizard friends, birds, hawks, chipmunks, other furry critters, many plants, not just cacti.
Love it.

Wonderful walking tours available. Our guides were very informative regarding flora, fauna, and geology.

Love love love…
A well kept secret of Tucson.
Great plants, humming birds and flowering cacti in the spring!

Went there for the Holiday Lights Festival, but I’ve been there before. Tohono Chul is a nice relaxing park. It is not overwhelmingly large and is nice for a walk-​through to learn about the Sonoran Desert’s unique botany. My wife and I think the best part is getting a lesson from one of the docents. They are eager to share their knowledge, eager because they find their subject fascinating and important to the quality of life. You can learn just as much if not more at the Sonoran Desert Museum, but this is a nice, comfortable park.
As far as the Holiday Lights Festival, it was fun. I am, of course, a music junkie, music being my profession, and I loved all the performing groups there. There was a cowboy group there that reminded me of the group, Riders in the Sky. There was a Spanish guitar ensemble, and a jazz singer with a combo. All were very enjoyable.
There was a magic show which was just a hoot. There were vendors there, selling crafts, jellies, salsas, and other things with some giving out samples. There was also complimentary hot chocolate and cookies.
We enjoyed looking through their art gallery, the greenhouse where they sell plants from the Sonoran Desert, and the gift shop.
If you are reading this prior to next years’ Holiday Lights Festival, then I would recommend that you go. A fun event.

Lovely place to walk for about 3 hours. Not as large as I thought it was going to be, and I did walk over the whole park, but interesting things to see. A little overpriced for what it is. Worth seeing once. Did not get a chance to enjoy the café, I ate too large of a breakfast elsewhere, maybe that would have improved my opinion of this place as a tourist attraction. I think if I were a local, I would be more interested in a membership at one of the other gardens in town where I can get more bang for the buck. But it is easy to walk, nothing too challenging for seniors. Only a few areas that are thick with bees.

great way to be introduced to Tucson. My family and I moved here back in October, and this was my first time visiting this Park, surprisingly really close to the house! My parents came for a visit last week and I took my mother for a stroll and she loved it! Three generations went into the Park and we all found something we loved. My 3 year old daughter loved the grounds and the Children s Garden, very adventurous little girl that was never bored and found every turn exciting. I’m in my thirties and loved testing out my camera on all the blossoms and the mountain views. My 60 something mother loved the walk and loves Arizona a little more now that she sees how relaxing and stress free it is.
I will be taking future visitors here and also look in to a membership since my daughter loved walking around.

I’ve been a member of the park for years and treasure the grounds, enjoy the Tea Room, love the night-​blooming cereus experience, frequent and support the gallery, and often do my holiday shopping there.
All that said, the Park blew it with a family wedding held there last summer – poor communication, no notice of change in restaurant, planned construction during the wedding weekend, no contact person for the wedding weekend, and, finally, no chairs set up for the 100 wedding guests! Plus no phone number contact to solve the problem! Dressed in our wedding clothes with help from our friends, we set up the chairs! The director later called one of our friends to say that we didn’t have to put the chairs away! Disappointment is a mild word for what I felt about their treatment.
It’s a beautiful place, but I feel like the organization may fall if it is just that, an organization that fails a fundamental resource, the people who support it.
So a heads up to those planning an event at Tohono Chul Park. You may be on your own.