46. Hot Air Expeditions
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (480) 502-6999, (800) 831-7610
Description: Groups meet daily in the cooler months at Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix to drive out to a North Valley launch site to climb aboard hot air balloons. After dawn you’ll be floating anywhere from treetop level to 1,000 feet high over 200 miles of open desert. You’ll touch down 45 to 90 minutes later and enjoy a champagne brunch in the desert as you and other passengers reflect on the flight. Then the company drives you back to your car. Rates are $133 to $183 per person. Gift certificates and group rates are available. Food includes quiche, pain au chocolate, fresh fruit, and other food prepared by Vincent on Camelback (see the Fine Dining section of the Restaurants chapter).
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
49. Camelback Mountain
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (602) 261-8318
Description: Camelback Mountain offers quick access to great climbs in the Valley, but the crumbly sandstone walls make the situation a bit dicey. The 80-foot tower called the Praying Monk, one of the most popular climbs, offers a sheer angle, a great view of the Valley, and permanent—though aging—bolts fixed along the route. The east face is rated at 5.4; the southeast corner at 5.6. Hikers beware—do not climb these rocks without the proper gear, protection, and instruction.
50. Westworld Paintball Adventures
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (602) 447-8200
Address: 4240 W. Camelback Rd.
Description: At 30,000 square feet, Westworld Paintball Adventures has the largest indoor facility in the Southwest. Courses include dirt, bunkers, and sniper towers, as well as a regulation airball field. An on-site pro shop sells paintball supplies and features a friendly, helpful staff. You don’t need a reservation to join in the open play. Reservations are $30 and include the equipment rental and 100 rounds of ammo. The company also runs the outdoor Splatter Paint Ranch on the southwest corner of Jomax and Scottsdale roads.
51. Roosevelt Lake
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Serious anglers recommend Roosevelt Lake. From central Phoenix, Roosevelt Lake is the farthest of the lakes formed by dams along the Salt River. Despite being the highest of the lakes, it’s fairly warm because it’s shallow, and the fish grow well. Spring is the best time to catch bass; crappies are abundant, too. Catfish are best caught in spring and summer. You can fish the lake year-round, though, and still turn up some good catches.
52. Saguaro Lake
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Saguaro Lake is a challenging place for anglers because the lake is so popular. It’s tough to make a good catch here. The best time to fish Saguaro Lake is in winter, when most of the boating traffic dies down. Anglers who can’t wait for winter will get up well before dawn or stay up into the wee hours to partake of Saguaro Lake’s bounty of bass and catfish in some secluded cove.
53. Grand Canal
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: The Grand Canal travels across the Valley from where it emerges from an underground aqueduct southwest of the intersection of Washington Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe. The canal path heads northwestward into Phoenix, north of Indian School Road and past the Phoenix Indian Medical Center before it heads almost due west between Phoenix Central High School and Brophy College Preparatory School and then curves southwest. South of Indian School Road and I-17, the canal begins to travel west. It travels to the northwest a little north of 56th Avenue and Osborn Road. It travels into Glendale at 75th Avenue and Camelback Road, continuing northwest to Bethany Home Road and 83rd Avenue, where it heads due west to about 107th Avenue and ends.
54. Hieroglyphic Trail
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Insider Pick:
Description: If you’re looking for a memorable hike that’s not to steep and not too boring, this is the one. The round-trip hike is about 2.5 miles. The elevation change is about 200 feet difference over some varying sand and rock, so it’s manageable and quite scenic with the mighty Superstition range as the backdrop. At the top you can explore some truly bizarre rock formations marked with ancient Native American petroglyphs. The Superstitions are known as a fantastic day trip, and the spot puts you about 12 miles south of the Goldfield Ghost Town attractions for another place to explore with family.
55. Mormon & National Trails
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (602) 495-0222
Address: 10919 S. Central Ave.
Description: These are fun trails for mountain biking, although they’re shared by hikers, so be careful and courteous. From the mountain-bike point of view, Mormon Trail is a technical singletrack. The trail climbs to a mountain ridge, follows it, and then hooks up to the National Trail. At this point you can choose to return to the trailhead by turning left down the National Trail. By turning right you continue upward on the National Trail. At “the waterfall” riders are forced to carry their bikes up a short distance, and then it’s 3 to 4 miles back to the parking lot. The bike ride down is very bumpy.
56. Summit Trail
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (602) 256-3220
Insider Pick:
Description: At 2,700 feet Camelback Mountain happens to be the tallest in Phoenix, so its Summit Trail takes hikers to the top of the Valley. However, you don’t get the reward of a magnificent view without work. This is a popular place among overachievers, and the park rangers rate it a strenuous hike. The mile-long path is a vertical ascent with slippery patches of gravel, but it’s well worth the effort.
57. Summit Trail At Piestewa Peak
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (602) 262-7901
Address: 2701 E. Squaw Peak Ln.
Description: We hesitate to mention the Summit Trail at Piestewa Peak because it’s already so popular and crowded. This 1.2-mile trail doesn’t go as high as Camelback’s Summit Trail (it’s only 2,600 feet), and it isn’t as difficult. The trail has several places to stop and rest, and you don’t have to climb very high to get a nice view.
58. Arizona Horse Lovers Park
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (602) 534-4657
Address: 19224 N. Tatum Blvd.
Description: This park has 4 equestrian arenas open to local horse owners Wed to Sun. Trails in the surrounding Reach 11 Recreation Area are open sunrise till sunset.
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 234 N. Central Ave.
60. Ponderosa Stables
City: Phoenix, AZ
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (602) 268-1261
Address: 10215 S. Central Ave.
Description: Ponderosa Stables offers horseback riding in South Mountain Park. Trail rides are $33 per person, per hour. Ponderosa also gives riding lessons at $45 an hour per person. The lessons are usually one on one, but they are sometimes in small groups. Ponderosa’s wranglers will take groups out on cookout rides, featuring steak and chicken or hamburgers and hot dogs. There’s an eight-person minimum on cookouts, and reservations are needed.