Visit and Explore

The Santa Cruz River is a unique resource in our community. Learn how to connect with this riparian habitat.

7:30 – 9:30 a.m., Sept. 17, 2024

Dragons and Damsels of El Rio Preserve (Sept)

6 – 9 p.m., Sept. 18, 2024

Bugs & Bites (Dragonfly Festival)

7 – 8 p.m., Sept. 19, 2024

Dragonflies: Their Lives Before Adulthood (virtual Dragonfly Festival Event)

Image of Flame Skimmer dragonfly on the Santa Cruz River

Dragonfly Bioblitz

Help us count all the dragonflies on the Santa Cruz River.

Dragonfly Bioblitz

Urban National Wildlife Refuge

Learn more about efforts to create a Santa Cruz River Urban National Wildlife Refuge in Tucson.

Urban National Wildlife Refuge

Group of people standing on edge of Santa Cruz River

Dispatches from the Santa Cruz River

Read our quick river stories and volunteer thank yous.

River Dispatches

Santa Cruz River in Marana AZ

Group of people in Santa Cruz River

People standing in river holding measuring equipment

Two people measuring length of a turtle

Sonoran mud turtle in the Santa Cruz River

View of people in Santa Cruz River Channel

Researchers gathering plant data in transect square

People looking in container filled with water and aquatic life

Coyotes walking along a river in Tucson

Image of 2 Sonoran Desert toads

Santa Cruz River in Marana

People standing in Santa Cruz river

People standing in a river looking at rocks

Person holding dragonfly in their fingers

Image of Vermilion Flycatcher, a bird with a red head and chest, with gray wings