The Hi-Desert Nature Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Appointments are no longer needed.

Summer Youth Exhibit

LAST CHANCE TO SEE!

Closes on September 3, 2022

Explore the science of what’s biting you! Examine the what, why, when and how of mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, leeches and other parasites. Learn why bloodsuckers are important to the ecosystem—and how to keep them out of YOUR system. Creepy good fun!

Temporary Closure

In preparation for the upcoming exhibit, the Hi-Desert Nature Museum will be closed from September 4^th through September 13^th.

Photos show the delivery of the "Attack of the Bloodsuckers" exhibit. We are sorry to see it go.

NEW EXHIBIT

Postcards from Mecca

on display from September 14 through October 29, 2022

Postcards from Mecca: The California Desert Photographs of Susie Keef Smith and Lula Mae Graves features photographs from these two women, who documented prospectors, burro packers, aqueduct surveyors and nomads in the desert east of California's Salton Sea for postcard spinner racks. All together, Postcards From Mecca presents portraits of a mysterious land, along with the story of its heroic chroniclers, self-taught documentary photographers of the 1920s and '30s.

Postcards from Mecca is based on the book edited by Ann Japenga and Warner V. Graves III, originated at the La Quinta Museum, and is traveled by Exhibit Envoy.

It rained in the Desert

After a good summer rain the desert becomes alive. Little plants are popping up everywhere. Check your yard for these native species!

Chinch Weed is a ground covering plant with yellow flowers. Its leaves have embedded scented oil glands that can have a dill or lemon fragrance. Chinch Weed is especially good for stabilizing disturbed or degraded areas.

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Fringed Amaranth is a native weedy species that responds well and even thrives with moderate or heavy monsoon rainfall. The Cahuilla used to eat the boiled leaves and ground the parched seeds into a flour.

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