Sedona Arizona

This week my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came to visit my family from Oklahoma. This presented a perfect time for an Arizona Adventure. Sedona Arizona was this weeks adventure and as always, Sedona did not disappoint.

Whenever I try to explain to visitors why they should visit Sedona I have a hard time articulating the Sedona experience. Normal questions are asked, for example, what should we see there, and the answer is Sedona. Sedona is the adventure in and of itself. When you are in Sedona, you are surrounded by majesty. There is one main road in and out of Sedona. Along the way there are places to pull off and explore. This is what you should do when you visit Sedona. Explore.

The main strip of Sedon offers little shops to buy souvenirs, eat, and sit while enjoying the surrounding beauty. Before you leave Sedona, be sure to experience the Sunset on top of the mountain. Just ask anyone in town and they will point you to the right spot.

Sedona is always a huge hit with people I take there especially visitors from out of town. If you would like to learn more about Sedona or get a detailed list of things to do there, please visit Sedona.net.

Piestewa Peak

Every Saturday I try to take my kids on a new adventure somewhere they have never been in the Beautiful state of Arizona. This Saturday’s adventure was Piestewa Peak. Piestewa Peak stretches 2,610 feet into the sky and is the second highest mountain behind Camelback mountain in the Phoenix Mountain Range.

My Kids Review

Connor, my seven year old son, loved Piestewa Peak and claims Piestewa Peak to be his second favorite adventure behind Papago Park: Hole in the Rock. My daughter loved Piestewa Peak. Like her brother, she thinks Piestewa Peak is her second favorite place in Arizona. Unlike her brother, her favorite place is Lake Pleasant Regional Park. I imagine when I finally take Connor on a boat at Lake Pleasant, then Lake Pleasant will be his favorite, too.

Review of Piestewa Peak Regional Mountain Park

Pros & Cons

Buckeye Hills Regional Park

Buckeye Hills Regional Park is located about 60 minutes West of downtown Phoenix Arizona. Buckeye Hills Regional Park offers Archery, primitive camping, picnic sites (with and without ramadas), and a public shooting range. One of the interesting features about Buckeye Hills Regional Park is that the park is designed like a hiking trail for cars. What I mean by this is that the road looks like a hiking trail through the desert. It is a fun drive you can enjoy with your family, partner, or by yourself if you want to spend a quite afternoon in the desert.

For more information about Buckeye Hills Regional Park please visit Buckeye HIlls Regional Park’s website.  To See a park map Click on the Buckeye Hills Regional Park Trail Map.

Review of Activities for Buckeye Hills

Pros & Cons

Estrella Mountain Regional Park

Estrella Mountain Regional Park is part of the Maricopa County park system. Estrella Mountain Regional Park is located about 40 minutes West of downtown Phoenix.

Lake Pleasant Regional Park

As promised, I have been taking my kids somewhere new in Arizona every Saturday and this Saturday we went to Lake Pleasant Regional Park. Lake Pleasant is about 40 miles North of downtown Phoenix located in Maricopa County. Lake Pleasant Regional Park is one of my favorite place to play. Lake Pleasant offers so much to do. One of the reasons I enjoy Lake Pleasant so much is that Lake Pleasant is attached to the Maricopa County Park Pass that I purchased this year for $85.00. I can get into Lake Pleasant on my pass. Taking my kids to the Lake cost me nothing more than travel time and gas. This is a super easy way to have a great Saturday inexpensively.

Lake Pleasant has plenty of opportunities for people to spend money, lots of money. It is easy to rent of boat at Lake Pleasant. Boats range from canoes to speed boats. I have rented pontoon boats, jet skis, and speed boats in the past. Unfortunately we were not able to do this today because my wife wouldn’t let me spend any money.

If you’re not into water sports, then Lake Pleasant Regional Park offers plenty to do out of the water. For example, you can camp, hike in the desert, bike ride, or just about anything you want as long as it is legal including restaurants floating on docks in the Lake (really cool).

Today, my kids and I had a blast at Lake Pleasant Regional Park very inexpensively. We could have spent more money and had more fun; but, my wife said no. If you would like to learn more about Lake Pleasant Regional Park click here. If you would learn how to spend some of that money renting something fun click here.  

Arizona Center: Downtown Phoenix

Last week on the way to Papago Park, my kids and I passed downtown Phoenix. My kids decided at that time they wanted to experience the city. Today my kids and I went to Arizona Center, a retail area in the heart of phoenix, so they could experience the city.

Arizona Center offers a plush downtown experience with affordable restaurants. The architecture near and around Arizona Center is aesthetically pleasing. The landscape architecture is world class with water features-not always easy to find in the desert.

The Arizona Center is located right next to Saint Mary’s Basilica. The Basilica is usually open within reasonable hours. The 100 year building is a fun experience with  religious artwork in the Basilica.

For more information about the Arizona Center please visit   Arizona Center’s Website.

Papago Park: Hole in the Rock

This cool little park is found near the heart of Phoenix Arizona right next to the Phoenix Zoo. Papago Parks Trails are smooth and pretty flat. The trails make biking, walking, or trail running easy. The park is divided into the East and West sides. Papago Park offers great outdoor recreation including hiking, fishing from stocked lakes, and Golf at the Papago Golf Course. The Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Gardens are close so adding them to your adventure would make for a great day of outdoor desert adventure.

Every week I have to convince my son to go on our Saturday adventures. By convince, I forced him to go on our Saturday adventures. At least, this was the way things were before I took my daughter and son to Papago Park: Hole in the Rock. This is one of my 7 year old sons favorite places to go. There are rocks for a boy to climb on all around the park that seem just dangerous enough to capture a young boys attention without scaring a parent to death.

The first time my 9 year old daughter went down the steps of the big rock with a hole in it she was terrified. You can look at the pictures of her on her bottom scooting down the steps with a mixture of fear and excitement radiating from her facial expressions. She was terrified most of the time and would not cross from the hole in the rock to the cave next to the rock because it was just to scary. When we were walking back, my daughter was exhilarated. I could tell she had a great time from her expressions and the excitement in her voice as she told me about her experience on the walk back to the car.

Papago Park is free. The only expense you accrue is time spent and gas driving to and from the park. I highly recommend this park, especially Hole in a Rock. For more information regarding Papago Park: Hole in a Rock please visit Papago Park’s Website. You and your family will be glad you did.

White Tank Mountain Regional Park

White Tank Mountain Regional Park is a great place my family and I frequently visit. There are over 30 miles of trails ranging from .9 miles to 7.9 miles. There are many trails extremely well maintained some of them are wheel chair accessible (waterfall).

The trails are multi-use trails with the exception of Waterfall Trail and The Short Black Rock Trail (My family’s favorite trails). These two trails are extremely achievable for hikers of any level and together are about 2.2 miles. Waterfall Trail has 5/10 of a mile that is barrier-free and 1/10 of a mile handicap accessible.

The beautiful desert is the feature of White Tank Mountain Regional Park that keeps my family coming back for more. The pristine nature has many different cactus only viewable in this region of the United States and viewable in some areas of Mexico. White Tank Mountain Regional Park offers beautiful desert plant adaptions as well as desert animals.

No matter what your outdoor activity—hiking, biking, camping, or horseback riding—white tank mountains will fill your needs. This fun family mountain park is great for spending the morning, day, or camping for weeks in the desert. My family and I recommend this park and hope you enjoy this beautiful desert park as much as we do.

When ever you visit any of our beautiful parks in Maricopa County please remember to drink plenty of water and wear sun screen. For more information about the White Tank Mountains visit Maricopa County Parks and Recreation White Tank Mountain Regional Park.