Tohono Chul, Botanical garden in Casas Adobes, Tucson, United States.
Tohono Chul is a 49-acre botanical garden, nature preserve and cultural museum in Casas Adobes, overlooking the Santa Catalina Mountains. Its grounds hold demonstration gardens and special collections of native and arid-adapted plantings, a recirculating water feature, a geological reconstruction of the Santa Catalina Mountains, and ramadas. The 1937 adobe Wack house, renovated in 1984, holds changing art exhibits, a museum shop and offices.
The land was citrus groves in the 1920s under Maurice Reid, until Richard and Jean Wilson purchased it in 1966 to prevent commercial development. This purchase saved the area from urban expansion pressure.
The name comes from the Tohono O'odham language and means 'desert corner', reflecting the strong connection between this place and Native American communities. Visitors can experience how people traditionally lived with desert plants in this region.
The garden offers numerous walking paths through different themed areas and is well organized for self-guided visits. It's best to arrive early when it's cooler and wildlife is more active.
The Wilsons' 1937 adobe house, later the Exhibit House, was built with bricks made on the premises and Ponderosa pine logs hauled down from Mount Lemmon for the living-room beams. Jean Wilson opened the Haunted Bookshop on Northern Avenue in 1979; when it closed in 1997 its land was donated to the park.
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