Inside the plan to grow a huge rainforest in the Arizona desert

Talk about a desert oasis.

Developers are plotting a nearly 93,000-square-foot indoor rainforest with free-flying birds, sloths, snakes and exotic plants — smack in the middle of Arizona’s scorching Sonoran Desert.

Dubbed Paradise Earth, the four-story attraction is planned for 10.5 acres of Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land near Scottsdale and is being billed by its creators as the largest indoor rainforest in North America.

The elaborate wildlife exhibit would also house freshwater fish, two-toed sloths, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, according to a conditional-use presentation submitted to tribal officials.

Visitors would explore the climate-controlled jungle using pathways at three different heights, the forest floor, understory and canopy.

The project’s promotional website promises close encounters with animal handlers carrying sloths, bird feedings from a wooden bridge and waterfowl swimming among lily pads as rainforest noises echo throughout the building.

Plans also call for a live aerial bird show, a children’s playground with climbing views and balance logs and an animatronic production called “Welcome to the Jungle.”

A treehouse outlined with high-definition screens would create the illusion that the rainforest stretches for miles, while the entire atrium would transform into an electronic light-and-sound show after dark.

Guests could even dine inside Roost, a restaurant designed to resemble a giant Victorian birdcase and offer views of the birds flying ‘outside.’

The Arizona jungle also has a California imprint: The developer says the Los Angeles entertainment division of San Francisco-based architecture giant Gensler is helping design the project, while LA-based Entertainment Design Corporation is handling the visitor experience.

Paradise Earth would join OdySea Aquarium, Butterfly Wonderland and several other attractions at Arizona Boardwalk.

But the jungle has been growing roughly at the pace of one of its future sloths.

The project has been promoted since at least 2018 and was initially expected to open in 2020, according to the Arizona Republic. Work stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic before developers restarted the approval process in 2022.

At least one local family had already purchased lifetime passes before the attraction ever broke ground, ABC15 reported in 2024. Arizona Boardwalk said at the time that refunds were available upon request.

The project’s latest push also encounter resistance from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Council, which unanimously postponed a July 29 vote on its conditional-use permit.

Council members demanded more information about its water consumption, waste management, animal sourcing and whether Arizona’s punishing summer heat could harm wildlife beneath the largely glass upper story, according to AZFamily.com.

Councilmember Deanna Scabby said the proposal conjured up thoughts of “Jurassic Park.”

Developers said the facility would be climate-controlled and argued that its glass ceiling would operate like the one at neighboring Butterfly Wonderland.

Arizona Boardwalk officials said the postponed vote extended the project’s timeline but did not change their commitment to building it.

Even if the conditional-use permit is eventually approved, Paradise Earth must still undergo design review and secure a construction permit. No groundbreaking or opening date has been announced.

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