You wouldn’t want to get caught smooching under Arizona’s native mistletoe.

The Arizona Science Center and Usery Mountain Regional Park have teamed up to provide a new field-trip option for local home-schooled children.

A couple of weeks ago, Brennan Basler saw a group of kids brighten up at Amigos Wash, a usually dry arroyo in the desert outside of Mesa. They were huddled over a hole in the wash's dirt bank, brainstorming what kind of reptile might live in a hole like that, when a boy spied a real live desert tortoise plodding through the sandy wash bottom toward them.

A scream rips out of the darkness, somewhere in the shadows of a pond at the Desert Botanical Garden, along with another sound almost as disturbing.

A scream rips out of the darkness, somewhere in the shadows of a pond at the Desert Botanical Garden, along with another sound almost as disturbing.

 A group of hikers pauses on a scrubby bajada unfurling from the base of a craggy peak. Someone holds up her hand, signaling the others to listen.

One thing I love about living in the East Valley? We’re surrounded by scenic country that makes getting outdoors easy.

Usery Mountain Regional Park celebrates the best the Sonoran Desert offers, but face it: Even the most ardent nature lover can have trouble embracing the outdoors in Arizona's brutal summers.

When something’s in your own backyard, it’s easy to take it for granted.

There are three things to look forward to when spring hits the Valley: baseball, weather and wildflowers.

There are three things to look forward to when spring hits the Valley: baseball, weather and wildflowers.

With school letting out and a long holiday weekend on the horizon, you may be dreaming of getting out of town.

As a child, Sandra Muñoz-Weingarten remembers trying to outfox her mother.