McDowell Sonoran Conservancy: Trailside Naturalist – Protecting the Desert Tortoise

Trailside Naturalist – Protecting the Desert Tortoise at Gateway Trailhead

Location: Gateway Trailhead – 18333 N Thompson Peak Pkwy, Scottsdale, AZ 85255

Time: ~2.5 hours

Stop by anytime between 8:30 and 11:00 A.M. to learn all about the desert tortoises that live in the Preserve.

How does the desert tortoise survive the long hot Sonoran Desert summers in the Preserve? Easy! They get the water they need from plants they eat and water they drink from the winter and summer rains and then they store it – up to 40% of the tortoise’s body weight! The Conservancy’s Parson’s Field Institute is studying how development near the Preserve affects these modern representatives of a lineage that began 50 million years ago. Come learn all about tortoises and the Tortoise Telemetry research project!