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“art of the Morongo Basin”
The Hi-Desert Nature Museum was founded in 1964 by Evelyn Conklin; her father, Percy Conklin; Camilla Hudson, a long-time resident; and Jerry Moore, Community Services Director of the Parks and Recreation District. Evelyn Conklin served as Curator of the museum for 28 years. With the incorporation of the Town of Yucca Valley in 1991, the museum became a division of the Community Services Department. The museum has always been a family-oriented facility whose original purpose was to display and educate residents and visitors about the desert environment. The original collections consisted primarily of gifts from the community-at-large.The museum started in an 800 square foot building in a local park. In 1973, it moved to its present location in the Yucca Valley Community Center Complex. In 1989, an expansion was added to house taxidermy specimens in diorama settings.For more than 40 years the Hi-Desert Nature Museum has been dedicated to helping the citizens of the Morongo Basin and High Desert discover “with new eyes” the rich cultural heritage and natural history of this area. Generations of school children, students, and museum visitors have relied on the museum to inform, inspire, interpret, and entertain.
I'll do this review as both a visitor and an exhibitor. Either way, they are utterly fantastic by any measure. As a visitor, for a small town to have a museum as nice as this one, with public... Read more
Great spot to take your kiddos! Right behind the local park so you can let them run around and then settle down inside the AC. Lots of things for them to see and play with. Read more
I love museums. I especially love small, local museums. And most of all I love small, local museums featuring nature and history. Unfortunately, I'm being generous with two stars on this... Read more
Hi-Desert Nature Museum
Hours
- Wed - Sat: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
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