Biosphere 2 Review

Super unique spot to visit in Tucson. Visitor dollars keep it up and running. You should go!!!

You can learn everything online about this place online.

Check out the new sign territorial sign co. Created ..... wonderful

This place is a great find. Hidden away in the desert, in the middle of nowhere stand this large glass pyramid and large while domes structures. It looks like a scene from a space movie ready to launch a rocket at any moment.
There is plenty of free parking and once inside you can buy a little something at the gift shop. There are guided tours you can take. 21 dollars per person. They give you a headset to wear so you can hear the tour guide at any time no matter how far away you are from the group. Inside the biosphere 2, only personnel and the people being led by the tour guide are allowed to enter, so you definitely need a ticket. The tour covers everything from each ecosystem to the lungs of the glass enclosure.
After the tour you can walk around the premises. The entire place is pretty vast so bring comfortable walking shoes and water containers.

You'll leave well informed and more conscious of your part in the environment. Highly recommend!!!

It is an amazing place to visit. There is some phenomenal information and fantastic things to see, but it is definitely a place I would only visit once. The hour and a half tour I took was quite sufficient. Maybe I would visit again in a couple decades to see how the experiments and technology has evolved.

Great tour! Don't miss it!! First come first served on tours!

Real experiments. Real structures. A real experience.

This is an awesome place to visit. If you are not accustomed to walking or stair climbing, you will get a real work out. My Fitbit never stopped. Our guide walked pretty quickly which made an even more tiring day. We took all three excursions in one day. I do not recommended. The ocean is the best of the trips. Very informative. The ocean trip more than any other brings into focus our responsibility to the Earth. Eye opening! There is not much, if any information on the people who stayed two years in the bio sphere, unless you ask. There is a cafe, but the sandwiches are mediocre at best. You might want to bring your own sandwiches. Several places inside the planetarium portion is extremely hot and humid. A light jacket is in order if nippy outside. Not needed inside. The bio sphere is worth both time and money. We visited on a Fri. And were there for a little over five hours.

If you like earth sciences and learning about the effects we have on our environment then this is the place for you. Tour guides are excellent, informative and entertaining.

This place is incredible! A fun and educational guided tour through the biosphere. The tour lasts between an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes but if you get there early enough there are exhibits you can explore on your own. Wear your walking shoes because the tour takes you on a mile and a half long trip above and below ground.

Good place to take kids for educational experience but basically a big greenhouse; interesting scientific experiments; owned and run by the university of Arizona; rather pricey at twenty dollars per adult for a couple of hours but you are supporting science; the most impressive were the twin lungs made of hypalon rubber [6 tons] and steel [14 tons] and the tunnels that lead into it; nice to visit once; nice educational posters everywhere; interesting architecture

Awesome experience. Definitely recommend doing the tour. Very interesting and enlightening experience.

Definitely a fun place. If you are a natural scientist ( chemistry, biology, physics) just don't listen to all the details on the tour. (Example: gasses expand when they get hot because the molecules get larger. LOL.) The tours are nicely set up, and there are lots of things to see. Some time rummaging around afterwards is nice. Bring water... There are discounted tickets online, so look around. The front desk staff are super nice.

Fascinating and instructional visit! Worth seeking out when in Tucson!

The Life Magazine titled Biosphere II as one of the 50 places you must have seen.
Well ...

The construction and layout are definitely interesting, as are the experiments that took place there in the 90s.

But if you book the tour for $ 21 per adult, the areas (desert, rainforest, etc.) are shown and explained, but you learn nothing or not much about the research of the time. Our guide was also a student who was highly intelligent and knew a lot, but could not present or explain it. In addition, his English was so accentuated that I understood next to nothing. My wife, who is almost a native speaker, hardly understood anything herself. Pity...

If you've never done this, you need to. If you've done it many years ago, you need to go back. It was epic!

If I could give out 6 Stars only once or twice, Biosphere 2 would certainly be one of my recipients. Trying to explain how deeply this place can touch you is quite difficult, however I'll do my best and try. I love the place and all of its history. There is literally no place like it in the world....

I must admit that I am partly biased in my review because I work with Dr. Linda Leigh, one of the eight original Biosphere crew who spent 2 years inside the structure back in 1991-1993. Today she works in Oracle at a small vitamin supplement and superfood company that is locally-owned and operated. She is the only original crew member who stayed in the Oracle area once the original experiment was finished. I have had the great fortune of exploring the orignal Biosphere as a tourist back in the 90's as well as with Dr. Linda last year in 2016. She has shared her stories with me and I have a much broader view of the new Biosphere 2 research facility as a result.

Today the Biosphere serves as a meeting place for scientists and is a research facility where numerous intensive experiments are taking place due to the facility's unique qualities found in very few other places around the world. As you tour you might even see some of the researchers at work and your guide will expertly explain their work. A rare few of the tour guides have been at the Biosphere since it was in its original phase of research back in the 1990's, hard to believe but true. They, too, were drawn into its intense orb of power and remained year after year, joyful just being a part of it history.

Linda was in charge of the rainforest section and traveled around the world for over a year before the initial trees, plants, and herbs were imported and planted in the Biosphere. She met with amazing scientists in every tropical country that she visited and selected an astounding variety of representative plants for the "big dome". Dr. Richard Evan Schultes and Stanislov Grof are two such scientists who helped her make her careful selections that today rise 6-8 stories tall inside the rainforest dome and flourish under the desert sun. Her experience and shared stories have helped me understand the intimate workings that are only partly visible to a contemporary visitor, however once you walk through, you might find yourself wondering when you can visit again. That's how it strikes some of us, perhaps even you.

The current mini-museum and actual tour within the Biosphere's structures is inspiring. If you have a child who shows the slightest inkling of being interested in biology, geology, plants, water, and insect and animal life, bring them to this place. The total immersion they will feel by walking inside and passing through its many internal spaces is just the ticket for making their eyes open wide with delight as well as interest. Questions will flow like water as they bombard the tour guide, or perhaps only you, about the whole experience. It's as close to some of the science fiction movies they might have seen where the space travelers end up inside some dome on an alien planet, you know, like Mark Wahlberg in the movie "The Martian", struggling to survive. They will dig it and you will love that. Nothing like seeing a young scientist being nurtured is there?

The Biosphere 2 location is easy to find, easy to visit, and totally close enough to Tucson to have a delightful lunch or dinner in the small town of Oracle before or afterwards and still make it back to your hotel in Tucson for the night's entertainment. You'll thank me later, I know, and that is thanks enough in itself.

The tour was fascinating to see but what they are doing there, is even more impressive! A++

If I could give this 10 stars, I would. Interesting, informative, fun. Delightful tour guide named Danielle. We highly recommend this intriguing project.

I didn't have a chance to go inside but I went up there and walked around when it snowed. It was beautiful! The views we're amazing!

Very nice and interactive place visit with kids, interesting and educational, take some lunch with you and enjoy!!!

Great place, great guides and helps to have a better look at the Earth.

Truly a one of a kind experience!! Awesome tour with some steps and walking but well worth it

The tour was short but still, it was worth going to

Very interesting. People stayed there for 2 years straight. Now, it's used for scientific research and education.

First time there and thoroughly enjoyed it will definitely go back!!

This was an amazing visit and I highly recommend it to anyone

The biosphere was much more interesting than I thought it would be. I lived in Arizona when it began but I never really paid much attention to anything except the news which was not that much. If you go be sure to take the historical tour it helps you understand in context. I'm thinking of taking my 7th grade students there for a field trip next year. The only drawback was I felt there ocean ecosystem was in bad shape and didn't provide very much. The rest of it was great.

In honestly thought this would be a waste of time... Boy... Was I wrong! Absolutely fantastic. Spend some time here and learn great things... But look and learn the amazing technology behind the time they locked up the biosphereans.... Amazing.

Interesting and unique place to learn about science and conservation. The tour helped make the place better. There is also a small cafe and gift shop here.

Very professional tour guide. Extremely interesting, citizen scientist driven experience. Well worth the the price of the tour. We were lucky and had perfect blue sky weather.

Simplistic explanations on info boards, intro film & from docent focusing on donation requests. Spaces seem under-utilized, no discussion of publications or policy influences resulting from past or ongoing research.

It was very interesting to see and learn about . Do all the tours for full understanding and what it's all about

Not as well kept as it used to be but, still kick'n.

Amazing and informative experience. Biting ants in many areas made the experience uncomfortable at times. Definitely going back though I will wear my hikers to cover my ankles.

Really cool but the guide could have made the tour more interesting.

A really interesting working laboratory and an interesting piece of contemporary history all in one visit. I thought this was fascinating.

Incredible facility to visit even if you only remember the media hype around this place. There is a ton to explore - we only took one tour but it was more than enough to merit driving all that way to visit. The research and ongoing use of the facility makes feel much more inviting than say a museum. Before you leave make sure you pick up some prickly pear tea too!

Really interesting day trip out of Tucson! The UA does a great job sharing this research facility with visitors. Food only so so

Amazing place for environmentally conscious focks, and those who love to learn and explore

Very interesting place and a must see if your in the Tuscon area. Tour was very informative and well worth it.

This place is a must see if you find yourself on this part of the world. Biosphere 2 is a true marvel of nature and human collaboration. Shortly after visiting this wonderful place,, I highly recommend watching the documentary "spaceship earth" about how Biosphere 2 came to be.

It's educational, beautiful and has a fascinating history and is making history even now.

Amazing place to visit for all ages. More important than ever to see how we impact our planet and what we can an do to minimize it's effects.

We have a membership and we really enjoy the biosphere but we would be disappointed if we had to pay for the partially open exhibits. There is a lot that is unavailable for viewing such as the living quarters and the under ocean viewing area. I would advise waiting until the biosphere is fully reopened if you don't have a membership.

Really neat place to visit. Wouldn't recommend for little kids because the tour is done with headphones on. The tour itself is not wheelchair accessible and expect a good amount of walking and stairs.

Amazing, beautiful place full of science and education. There were 4 of us between the ages of 15 and 70 and we were all interested and excited.

Great place to visit, a lot of interesting information and unique experiments.

It was very interesting how they live there for a year

I had the opportunity to go on a trip to see Biosphere 2 and it was well worth it! The place is beautiful and scientifically amazing. I would definitely recommend seeing it! The people were kind, helpful, and I learned so much.

Enjoyed visiting Biosphere 2. We had a great tour guide that was knowledgeable and entertaining. We enjoyed the stories he told along with the scientific and educational information he shared. Enjoyed visiting the different climates of the Biosphere, seeing behind the scenes and seeing the living quarters for the participants from the 1990's.

We took the tour, definitely very interesting. I would say you need to be entertained by science. This is not a thrill seeker adventure or some crazy active party environment. But there are some things you will see there that you won't see anywhere else on earth. For those interested in science and wanting to get a look to the future of science and our planet, this is a great trip. Not to mention great views of the desert mountains and valley.

Excellent
Great place

Really interesting and extremely organized and well thought out tour with the Covid restrictions. Can't wait to come back when the whole experience is open again.

This is one of my new favorite places. I could have spent so many more hours here. The tour was fun and informative. I love learning about the soil, the lung and how Biosphere 2 was sustainable for the 6 months people lived in it. The changes that occurred with the ocean coral and the rain forest drought fascinate me. I am almost 50 and contemplating a career upgrade. Take your friends, family and anyone else who lives in the original Biosphere.

Don t miss this if you go to Tucson. It s worth the trip.

Jan2019. Incredible history and still a very active research center. World unique I think. The guided tour was perfect, the guide was entertaining and very knowledgeable. The audio system allowed us to hear every bit of the guide speech. Some stairs, ups and downs.

It's like Disneyland but for earth science. Amazing to see "inside the glass" and experience the different ecospheres. As a kid I remember a tour where we had the same (with more drastic changes) experience with different climates . . . .I wonder what happened to that.

Absolutely amazing. We went on an hour and a half long tour into all the zones of the Biosphere. Our guide was knowledgeable and funny and he was genuinely interested in all the research going on. I learned a ton. All their research and results are available on their website, too.

If you're in Tuscon, I highly suggest you stop by.

Are you wondering if Biosphere 2 is worth the drive into the middle of nowhere? If you like science, experiments, and the idea of touring a giant self-contained ecosystem, then it's more than worth it! You'll be talking about your experience at Biosphere 2 for weeks after your visit because there's nothing else quite like it.