We frequently travel to Arizona. Mostly it is her Irish Dance competitions (many times just Sydney and I) that bring us there, so we take advantage of the opportunity to explore the natural beauty that is so prevalent in this state!
These days, we find ourselves driving to Phoenix versus taking the short 1 hour flight. While the drive is about 5.5 hours, it’s SO easy. It’s pretty much 2 roads until you get to the Phoenix area, and you just set on cruise control and go. We have our routine pit-stop in Gila Bend to fill up on gas and use the facilities. I figure by the time you get to the airport, allow enough time, wait for your flight, experience flight delays, fly, then get your rental car, etc., it’s probably the same length of time! And it’s nice to just be in your own car, on your own time, and your own schedule.
Right in Tempe, which is extremely close to the airport and to Arizona State University (and just 10 minutes from downtown Phoenix), is this beautiful park that we never even knew was there! You could spend a little time here (and even go to the Phoenix Zoo right next door) or a lot of time here, depending on how much you want to explore the park. It’s beautiful, with sandstone buttes, easy hikes with little elevation gain (great for walks or mountain bikes), and right next to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
When to go: What is great about Phoenix is the mild winters. We visited in January and it was nice and cool in the early morning, and then warmed up to about 75 degrees and sunny. As with everywhere in Phoenix, the summers can get quite hot so keep that in mind with any outdoor activities you plan.
What to wear: Sturdy shoes such as tennis shoes or hiking shoes.
What else you should know: The trails aren’t very well marked. It’s a bit of a maze around there but you really can’t go wrong with wherever you wander. Study this trail map to plan, but be open to wandering!
Our first mission was to see the “Hole-in-the-Rock” trail (very fancy names they have!), a very easy (0.2 miles) walk up to this awesome Butte with a big hole (OK, the 12 year old in me is really laughing at that and I know you are too!) that you can climb into and enjoy spectacular views of the city and surrounding area. See that hole in the top center? That’s where you climb to, and it’s FULL of people. While we love to avoid the crowded areas that spoil the vibe, sometimes you just have to go for it! To get here you drive as if you are going to the Phoenix Zoo, and instead of turning right into the Zoo parking lot (there will be a parking person waving you in), you head left and find a spot of the many small lots.
Getting closer you can see the swarms of people! To get there, you head right and climb around the backside of the butte.
The climb gives the kids plenty of fun to jump on the butte and take cool photos. We caught a glimpse of the lake below, and made a mental note for that to be our next stop!
When you get to the hole, yes, it’s crowded. But it’s still pretty neat and we felt very comfortable there. No sudden drop offs that we needed to worry about. Lots of kids.
She loved to explore the viewing area and as my cautious girl is by nature, she was sure to “hold on” even though she was very safe from falling!
We then walked a very short distance to check out the lake. It was filled with ducks which the kids love of course!
We then had to drive to the opposite side of Galvin Parkway to park in the trail lot. Parking was very limited so we ended up following some other cars who made some makeshift spaces down a little path. The trails weren’t well marked. All you could really see was the awesome Buttes, and eventually instead of trying to follow the trail we picked (Double Butte Loop Trail) we just did what everyone else seemed to be doing and just headed towards the direction of the Buttes. This was not nearly as crowded as the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail!
What’s really cool is you can go straight to the Buttes, and just walk around and climb all over them. You can spend quite a while here exploring!
Next time you are in Phoenix, I hope you’ll take some time out to check out Papago Park!
2 comments
WE feel the same way about driving verses flying g to Houston from Dallas. Do you fly standby?
Hi Jamie! We haven’t flown standby, that’s something to consider! I like the freedom of having the car, leaving when we want to, being able to explore around the area with our car, etc. It just seems overall that creates a more relaxing time to hit the road when it’s 5 hours or less!