Best Place To Astonish Guests '97

Best Place To Astonish Visitors

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
2021 N. Kinney Road

READERS' PICK: This internationally known and locally coveted museum/zoo/desert extravaganza is home to snakes, lizards, wolves, mountain lions, bear, coatimundis, bighorn sheep and more. Nestled on the desert floor in the shadow of the Tucson Mountains, the Desert Museum will amaze anyone who still thinks our arid environs are lifeless. Plan to spend an entire day exploring the exhibits along the two-mile trail that winds throughout the native flora of the lower Sonora. Kids love this place (especially the serpentine depths of the cave exhibits); and even stuffy easterners at The New York Times called it "the most distinctive museum zoo in the United States." The museum is open year-round and stays open late on Summer Saturdays (until 10 p.m. May through September), when outdoor paths are set aglow, and docents offer live animal interpretations and answers for all your desert-related questions.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: The natural beauty of Sabino Canyon draws visitors from all over the world. The open tram ride makes the area's burbling, Cottonwood-lined creeks and ascending mountain views accessible to visitors whose feet are maybe too old or too blistered from new cowboy boots to make the climb on their own. The sight of lush riparian habitat snuggled up to our signature saguaro cacti is well worth the trip, whether you're traveling from across town or from another continent. Never mind the tram driver who says Sabino Canyon's most distinguishing characteristic is that rock formation that looks like Snoopy on his doghouse...the canyon's quiet mornings and resplendent sunsets will render even the most accidental of tourists speechless.

A REAL SCREAM: The operative word in this category is "astonish," right? Try the International Wildlife Museum, 4800 W. Gates Pass Road. Where else can you see so many dead animals stuffed and reconstituted into eerie approximations of their former selves? Children under age 6 seem deeply touched by this unique place, and their appreciative wailing doesn't seem to bother the staff one bit. (We were too timid to check if they were stuffed.) You know, when we're shot and killed in the inevitable drive-by, it would be comforting to think that our hides would be preserved, pampered and placed in an educational diorama to instruct future generations of broad-bottomed tourists about our interesting and colorful lives, however abruptly truncated they might have been. A visit to the Wildlife Museum gives rise to the reassuring realization that even though the flesh is no match for high-powered bullets, dioramas are forever.

1998 Winner: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
1996 Winner: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
1995 Winner: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum