Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area

Plant Propagation at Borderlands Restoration Network
2026-08-04 09:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-30 09:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-28 09:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-23 09:00 - 12:00, 2026-07-21 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Phoenix) | Borderlands Nursery & Seed, 42 San Antonio Road, Patagonia, 85624, United States
Spend your morning at Borderlands Nursery & Seed with a great group of plant lovers propagating native plants that will restore the landscapes of the borderlands. Bring water and be prepared for outdoor work.

Boat Tours at Patagonia Lake State Park
2026-08-02 09:00 - 12:30, 2026-08-01 09:00 - 12:30, 2026-07-26 09:00 - 12:30, 2026-07-25 09:00 - 12:30, 2026-07-19 09:00 - 12:30 | Patagonia Lake, 400 Patagonia Lake Rd, Patagonia,, AZ, 85624, United States
Every Saturday and Sunday, $7 per adult, $5 per child (13 years and under)

9 a.m. Avian Adventure Tour
10:15 a.m. Avian Adventure Tour
11:30 a.m. Lake Discovery Tour
Twilight Tour on Saturdays only. Time varies.

Please call the park to make your reservation: 520-287-2791.
Boat rentals are available at the Patagonia Lake Marina.

Sonoita Vineyards' HARVESTFEST 2026
2026-08-01 10:00 - 13:00 | Sonoita Vineyards, 290 Elgin Canelo Rd., Elgin, A, 85611-8001, United States
Celebrate the start of harvest season at HarvestFest 2026 at Sonoita Vineyards!
Guests can enjoy a day of wine, live music, food vendors, artisan and craft booths, and the popular grape stomping competition at 1:00 p.m. Sample new releases from local wineries, discover unique handcrafted goods, and experience the beauty of Arizona wine country.

ASARCO Discovery Center & Mine Tours
2026-08-01 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-07-31 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-07-30 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-07-29 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-07-25 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-07-24 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-07-23 09:30 - 10:30, 2026-07-22 09:30 - 10:30 and 1 more date | ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center, 1421 W Pima Mine Rd, Sahuarita, 85629, United States
The ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center & Mine Tours’ vision has been to educate communities on the vital importance of the copper mining industry to civilization, to educate students and teachers in earth sciences, and to preserve Arizona’s mining history.’
Join the mine tour for a firsthand look at the copper transformation process. Ticketed mine tours are approximately 65 minutes long.
Tours at 9:30 am, 11:15 am
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MINE TOUR

Closed-toed shoes are required to take the tour. No Crocs, sandals, or flip-flops will be allowed.
We suggest bringing a water bottle (filtered water station is available in the Center).
Please dress comfortably.

Healing Herb Walk
2026-08-01 09:00 - 10:00 | Mission Garden, 946 W Mission Ln, Tucson, AZ, 85745
Learn about some of the 50 medicinal plants in Mission Garden’s Moore Medicinal Garden. The plants are native to the American Southwest deserts and in many cases have been used for millennia. Modern herbalists are keeping this tradition alive at Mission Garden.

Death After Dark Walking Tour
2026-07-25 19:00 - 21:00 | Presidio San Augstin del Tucson, 196 N Court Ave, Tucson, AZ, 85701
Escape the heat and join Mauro Trejo on an after-dark and unique and macabre tour that covers some of the most memorable deaths that have taken place in Tucson’s history. From executions to suicides, and gunfights to accidents, this 2 mile tour will take you back in time to some of Tucson’s most fascinating tragedies.
Begins and ends at the Tucson Presidio Museum, 196 N. Court Ave.
$35 general | $20 member
Contact info@TucsonPresidio.com to make a special reservation for a group of 6 or more.

Taste the Desert
2026-07-25 18:00 - 22:00 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N Kinney Rd, Tucson, 85743, United States
Join us for a night celebrating the hardy plants and deep-rooted traditions that nourish the Sonoran Desert. From mesquite to chiltepín, learn how desert plants sustain resilient communities and landscapes through a blend of flavor, culture, and hands-on discovery.
Signature Drink — Great Horned Owl: Spiced ôum;um, Butterscotch Schnapps, Peach Brandy, Ginger Schnapps
Activities

6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Music by Unified Field Theory
Groove to the Jazz sounds of this local band.
Website
6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Educational Activities
Explore the biocultural heritage of our foodways through interactive stations from:
Native Seeds/SEARCH, San Xavier Cooperative Farm, Las Milpitas Community Farm, Tucson Village Farm
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Desert Food Tasting, Baldwin Educational Building
Sample chef-crafted bites featuring local ingredients. Meet the chefs and get inspired by the flavors of the desert! Presented in partnership with Tucson City of Gastronomy.
Meet the Tucson City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassadors

Adolfo Cabrera is Executive Chef at Quail Creek Country Club in Green Valley, Arizona. An ACF Certified Executive Chef, he began as a dishwasher, advanced through various culinary roles, and won multiple awards in American Culinary Federation cooking competitions. He is active in culinary education and community outreach and has served as president and in other leadership positions in the Southern Arizona chapter of the American Culinary Federation.
Website

Chef Mateo Cancio, a Tucson native, fell in love with the desert and cooking while gathering ingredients from his grandmother’s garden and learning her traditional recipes. His culinary journey took off after winning the 2015 Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs regional competition as a Pima culinary student. Trained in Mexican, Italian, and French cuisines, he served as Chef de Cuisine at The Grill at Hacienda del Sol and is now Executive Chef at Nex Tucson and a Tucson UNESCO City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassador.
Website

Susan Fulton, chef and co-owner of Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery/Bistro, has worked in Tucson’s food industry since 1997. She champions local producers, serves on the boards of Tucson Originals and Heirloom Farmers’ Markets, and specializes in creative, gluten-free cuisine. She actively engages in cooking demonstrations and community events to promote Southern Arizona’s culinary heritage.
Website

Mary Steiger is Executive Chef and co-owner of Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery/Bistro in Tucson. A Scottsdale Culinary Institute valedictorian, she has managed bakeries and fine dining kitchens, specializing in gluten-free cuisine and heritage ingredients. Steiger is dedicated to inclusive dining and actively supports Tucson’s culinary community.
Website

Jenna Grigalauski is a Personal Chef and Culinary Consultant based in Tucson, Arizona. She has a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Certificate of Professional Cookery from Kendall College in Chicago. Grigalauski’s goal as a Personal Chef is to bring healthy, creative recipes to fellow Tucsonans.
Website

Pablo Valencia, Tucson-born chef and owner of Scratching the Plate, champions heritage cooking and local food. Trained from childhood and in local kitchens, he advocates for regional producers and traditions, representing Tucson as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassador at international culinary events.
Website

6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Cool off in the Warden Oasis Theater

6:30 – 7:15 p.m. Family Program: Sonoran Supermarket
The Sonoran Desert is diverse and full of tasty foods if you know where to look. Join our Education Specialist Nick Powers as we search the desert for ingredients to celebrate a very special birthday!
7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Speaker Panel: Traditions & Resilience
Hear from community voices and conservation leaders on desert agriculture, seed saving, and the power of cultural connections to land.
Robert Stone is a member of the Akimel O’otham (Gila River Indian Community). He has dedicated his work to preserving the traditional cultural knowledge of the Akimel O’odham, or River People. Mr. Stone has established his own farm to educate his community on growing traditional crops and has created a small seed bank to support the preservation of these important agricultural traditions.

Maegan Lopez is Tohono O’odham and from a community called Wecij Oidag (New Fields). She has one son; his name is Maximus. Maegan works as a Museum Specialist in the Collections Department at the Tohono O’odham Nation Cultural Center and Museum, also known as Himdag Ki:. In her role, she leads the care of the museum’s outdoor spaces and shares her passion for understanding, preserving, and reviving traditional agricultural practices and knowledge.

Helena Gonzales, Hopi and Navajo (Diné), is the Seed Bank Manager at Native Seeds/SEARCH where she organizes and cares for the seeds in the seedbank. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Plant Science with a minor in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona, focusing on genetics, genomics, and plant propagation. Helena is dedicated to the preservation of heirloom, desert-adapted crops from the Southwest.

6:00 – 10:00 p.m. Pop-up Chiltepin sale

Bring the desert home! Spice up your backyard with Museum-grown chiltepins, plus a limited selection of heritage figs and pomegranates. Supporting desert biodiversity and resilient foodways starts in your own garden.

Taste the Desert is funded in part by the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area

Docent Led Tour
2026-07-25 11:00 - 12:00 | Empire Ranch, 16655 E. Empire Ranch Rd, Sonoita, 85637, United States
Docent Led Tour of the Empire Ranch House. 11 am to noon. Reservations are required by 5 pm the day before the tour. Click here to make a reservation. Free. Meet at the Visitor Contact Station.

Living Lab & Learning Center Tour
2026-07-25 10:00 - 12:00 | Watershed Management Group, 1137 N Dodge Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85716
Our guided Living Lab Tours happen every 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. You’ll be led through our demonstration site by one of our Docents to learn about our many water harvesting systems firsthand.

Archaeology Day
2026-07-25 08:00 - 11:00 | Mission Garden, 946 W Mission Ln, Tucson, AZ, 85745
At our monthly (fourth Saturday) Archaeology Day, representatives of Tucson’s archaeology community come to Mission Garden to teach practical hands-on skills. Archaeology Southwest will be doing their Hands-on Archaeology program. It allows kids of all ages to try out fascinating ancient technologies. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center is represented at these events, also presenting interactive programs about things like pinch pots, pendants, and cordage. John Palacio speaks about and demonstrates making replicas of petroglyphs. Come join in any time between 8am and 11am.

Native Plant Propagation and Nursery Management Workshop
2026-07-23 10:00 - 14:00 | Tumacácori National Historical Park, 1891 E Frontage Rd, Tumacacori, 85640, United States
Join us for an informative class to learn about all things related to running and managing a native plant nursery, including propagating native plants from both seeds and cuttings, including seed and plant sourcing, plant lists, dormancy, mechanical scarification, temperature stratification, transplanting, pot sizes for retail vs. restoration needs, irrigation, soil type, timelines, and more.

Paton Center Habitat Ambassadors
2026-07-23 09:00 - 11:00, 2026-07-22 09:00 - 11:00 | Paton Center for Hummingbirds, 477 Pennsylvania Ave, Patagonia, 85624, United States
Join Tucson Bird Alliance’s restoration team in enhancing and maintaining habitat around the Paton Center grounds.

Position Description:

TBA’s restoration department has been hard at work acquiring new grounds and developing valuable native habitat types at the Paton Center over the past few years and we need your help to continue this work. Events will focus largely on invasive species removal and weeding but could include any of the following activities:

Weeding and planting the Paton meadow to support pollinators
Trail maintenance and building for improved visitor experience
Invasive grass and vine pulling and management
Brush clearing and hauling
Irrigation system maintenance to support native plants
Paton Center yard and grounds maintenance
Native seed collection

We welcome you to register for these events if you are interested in any of these tasks and a TBA staff member will reach out in advance of each event to provide a more detailed plan for the day.

Requirements:

Please come prepared to work in direct sun and in hot temperatures during warm months. We recommend wearing long sleeves, long pants, and a hat as well as sturdy close toed shoes. Please also bring a refillable water bottle.

Date:

October-May: 10-12 pm
June-September: 9-11 am

Number of Openings:

We are looking for 10-15 volunteers for each date. Registration required. Please click HERE link to sign up for the date(s) you would like to volunteer.

Santa Cruz River History Tour
2026-07-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Mission Garden, 946 W Mission Ln, Tucson, AZ, 85745
This two-mile walking tour is led by Mauro Trejo and focuses on our relationship with the Santa Cruz River, how it supported Tucson’s early residents, and the factors in the 19th and 20th century that affected its demise.
The tour begins at Tucson’s Mission Gardens and includes the sites of the former Spanish mission and the O’odham village that was the origin of our modern city. Attendees also visit Tucson’s tallest tree and the Garden of Gethsemane, a holy site of statues made by WWI veteran and artist Felix Lucero in the 1940s.
