The Hi-Desert Nature Museum
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.
Available for download:
2009 Annual Report (pdf)
2008 Annual Report (pdf)
The Hi-Desert Nature Museum is a family-oriented facility with collections and exhibits related to the desert’s unique natural, artistic and historical elements. The museum features educational opportunities for visitors of all ages, including natural history dioramas displaying wildlife in the desert, an interactive “Kids Corner” with plenty of hands-on activities, a mini-zoo with live desert creatures, a gem and mineral collection, a Native American artifacts exhibit and a fossil collection. Six rotating special exhibits are scheduled each year.
Collections of note include a comprehensive collection of Howard Pierce pottery, papers and serigraphs from Henry and Beverly Mockel, a Victorian-era collection of miniature paintings on ivory, an extensive collection reflecting the mineral resources of the local region, over 90 taxidermied specimens, and mining tools and implements reflecting the High Desert’s rich mining history. The Native American material culture collection contains objects from throughout the Western United States with concentration on Chemehuevi, Serrano, and Cahuilla cultures.