buenos aires national wildlife refuge

Worth the 90 minute drive from Tucson. The Saguaro and prickly pear cactus give way to the beautiful grasslands. A birders paradise. We were able to see the endangered masked bobwhite quail, as well as an American Robin. After checking out the visitors center, we had a nice picnic lunch at the Arivaca location, and also walked along the nature trail.After touring the Refuge, we drove down to Sasabe and looked at the border fence. The Sasabe general store is also worth checking out.

A beautiful place to visit and only about 1.5 hrs from Tucson. We saw about 30 bird species in various different habitats...grasslands, wetlands, creeks, scrub. Several hiking trails in gorgeous areas. We also saw a coyote, tracks from bobcat and cuati, and just missed a herd of javelina. The people at the visitor center are very friendly and knowledgeable. One gave us a tour to a new Masked Bobowhite Quail enclosure.

We live near by and hike different trails. It's always beautiful and enjoyable. Nice boardwalks over wet areas. The dog likes it too. Although there is no food available, Arivaca is near by and has plenty to choose from.

We were worried about the closeness to the border but took the walk along the boardwalk without any problems. We had hiked the mustang trail 8 years ago and wanted to do it again but......too far from the road and potential bad guys-- not this time.maybe next time after immagration reform.

We had traveled this area before and found the area serene and scenic ....unfortunate the visitor center was not open when we arrive,but be familiar with the area we drove the Pronghorn circle and marveled at the wildlife and beauty of the area...good job at keeping this wildlife area open and free.

This place is wonderful! Have visited many times, and always a different experience. Today saw bullfrogs, vermillion fly catchers, hummers, and water fowl. Nice trails, benches to rest and watch, well worth the trip. Bring a picnic, or stop at sweet peas cafe in Arivaca.

This place is pretty far off the beaten path; when we arrived the very helpful lady at the visitor center said she hadn't seen anyone in two days, so if you want some desert solitude pay this place a visit. The center offers quite a bit to learn about the desert, as well as the bobwhite reintroduction project; there are also several feeders there, which attracted several species of hummingbirds and a few Hooded and Bullock's Orioles. The FWS recommends a high-clearance vehicle for Pronghorn Drive, but aside from the usual "desert rumble strips", a passenger car should be able to make it just fine until the rains come. Unfortunately, we didn't see any Pronghorn... but Horned Larks, Western Meadowlarks, and Black-throated Sparrows were abundant, among others. Between the ongoing drought and the timing of our visit there wasn't much water in the area (except for the pond at Arivaca), so the wildlife was more sparse than we had hoped for, but we still enjoyed our visit.

Great time, lots of wild life,good rangers.If you want to know more about the desert, go over here and learn

there really needs to be some doe hunts but other whis its really nice. it use to be all flats, but not any more. one bad thing is no Jack rabbite hunting in there., o well.