Things to do in the Valley of the Sun
I have lived in Arizona for nine years. And though I have penned numerous blog posts about things I’ve enjoyed learning about other places, I have not publicly reflected on what I appreciate doing most in southern Phoenix and its vicinity.
Now that I'm about to leave the desert for my sabbatical in Denmark, I want to share this list of what my family members and I ranked as the top things visitors should see or do when in the area.
Golfland Sunsplash (155 West Hampton Ave, Mesa): Summer in the Valley is unbearable without being in the water. This is not only my family’s overall favorite destination, it is my favorite all-time water park. These lifeguards and amenities are class acts. The Thunder Bay Wave pool is my favorite, but multiple water slides offer something for everyone. The Master Blaster, for example, is your standard twisty slide, but with both open and enclosed tubes – the latter appearing bioluminescent. The Revolution, on the other hand, is what I imagine it would be like to be flushed down a toilet painted like a peppermint candy ... but in a good, fun way. The Stormrider is similar, but faster and requiring more people per raft. Thunder Falls is a straight, but bouncy, water slide where a person can take flight. The Sidewinder resembles an upright white horseshoe, where a person slides back and forth before eventually slowing to a stop at the bottom. Bonzi Speed Slides require no raft – you just lie down and scream.
And then there is the big one. I don’t recommend trying the Double Dare unless you are a true-blue adrenaline junky. Do you remember that tube into which Augustus Gloop was sucked in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Or those pneumatic tubes at drive-through banks? Imagine those, but bigger, and with your body and water shooting downward through them. Fast.
Whatever you enjoy at this park, wear aqua socks. The soles of my feet have burned climbing the steps to these waterslides.
Organ Stop Pizza (1149 E. Southern Avenue, Mesa): This is a close second to the aforementioned waterpark. Though the original Organ Stop Pizza debuted in Phoenix in 1972, the current building was constructed in Mesa in 1995 to house the ever-growing Wurlitzer theatre organ. According to its website, Organ Stop Pizza boasts “the largest Wurlitzer theatre organ in the world” and “the largest Theatre Pipe Organ of any type to ever be assembled.” The organists take requests, playing a wide repertoire. The organ slowly rotates, and occasionally a curtain behind it lifts to reveal dancing cat puppets.
Organ Stop Pizza is also community friendly, offering various organizations options for fundraising at their facility. One of those non-profits is where my husband works, United Food Bank. Until July 31, Organ Stop Pizza is giving 10% discounts on food orders to people who bring at least two non-perishable food items, or make a $2 cash donation, as part of its Christmas in July Food Drive. The most-needed items are peanut butter, canned meat, canned fruits and vegetables, cereal (whole grain, low sugar), soup, stews, chili, beans, milk (canned/dried), rice and pasta.
South Mountain Park and Preserve: I, like many other local residents, probably spend more time at this cherished preserve than anywhere else on this list. With more than 100 miles (160 km) of interconnected hiking, horseback and mountain biking trails, this 16,000-acre city park is the jewel of Phoenix. My family and I have a map of its trails, and after hiking one for the first time, we highlight it with a marker, with the hopes of eventually highlighting every trail in the park.
I’m most familiar with the Bursera, Telegraph Pass, Warpaint, and Pima Canyon trailheads, which all begin in Ahwatukee, the urban village within Phoenix's southernmost side. I recommend them all. Besides scenery, there are numerous trails to see petroglyphs, which are rock carvings scratched by ancient civilizations. The Hohokam lived here between at least 300 and 1500 BCE, building sophisticated irrigation systems. Portions of these canals were renovated for the Salt Water Project, which supplies the city’s water today.
Take the Bursera to the Pyramid trail, then take a left to go north onto the Lost Ranch Mine Trail to find the mystery of the mountain, The Lost Ranch. As Kaila White unpacked on this episode of Valley 101 Podcast, the origins of the Lost Ranch – and whether it was even a ranch – remains a mystery. South Mountain Park Manager Dan Gronseth said there are a few possibilities. Perhaps a mining camp that died during the Depression (1929-1941)? Or a possible Civilian Conservation Corps project of the 1930s, created as part of then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Program to employ single, young men? The CCC built several trails and structures on South Mountain, but there is no record of the CCC constructing anything at the Lost Ranch, Gronseth said.
What Gronseth does know, however, is that the initials I.S.H. are in the concrete. The significance of this clue is, like the Lost Ranch itself, apparently lost.
On the other side of the mountain is Scorpion Gulch (10225 S. Central Ave, Phoenix). Built in 1936, Scorpion Gulch was initially a home and store, and has been on the Phoenix Historic Property Register since 1990. The roofs are gone, but the ruins are worth seeing. It’s rare that I’m there and there is no one having professional photographs taken.
Next door is Ponderosa Stables (10215 South Central Ave., Phoenix), which offers a variety of packages for those who want to see the mountain on horseback. There are 1- or 2-hour ride options, with 6 years old being the minimum age for riders.
Within the Mountain Park Ranch Home Owners Association, there are a variety of surprises worth seeing – so long as you’re the guest of an HOA member. (In other words, come visit, and I’ll take you.) The Mountain Park Ranch Hiking Trail (2838 E Ray Rd, Phoenix) connects to South Mountain Park and Preserve trails. When I mountain bike, I usually take this trail. There are several steep jumps, and it’s loads of fun. It also wraps around a trail that stems off a cul de sac on East Rock Wren Road (2501-2525 E Rock Wren Rd, Phoenix). I don’t know if it has a name; my family calls it “The Steep Hill” because of the relatively striking initial climb. However, it's not a long hike, and when you reach the summit, you will see a great view of Ahwatukee.
Once you’re at the summit, you can hike down a steep westward trail to "The Oasis," which is where a seemingly random, giant palm tree that doesn’t appear to have any business growing there, is, in fact, growing there, along with other lush greenery, right there in the desert. The tree's layers of untrimmed dead palms hang so wide and low, several people can sit underneath it and be covered from the elements.
But please, a heart-breaking word of caution. If you’re coming to the Valley during the summer, especially during monsoon season (June 15 to September 30), finish your hike by 9 a.m. Earlier this month, a 10-year-old boy died due to heat-related illness after hiking with his family on South Mountain. It was 113 F (45 C).
This tragedy is not unprecedented. As Phoenix native Lilia Menconi put it in Moon Travel Guide's Phoenix, Scottsdale & Sedona (2020, p. 67), “It happens every year. Someone comes to Phoenix, hikes on a hot day, and dies. We’re talking about fit kids in their 20s who could probably survive incredible physical challenges. But dehydration and heatstroke easily take down even the healthiest or strongest, and tragically kill many people each year.”
During this time of year, I try to be done with outdoor workouts by 6 a.m. Just before dawn, temperatures are in the 90s F (30s C), and after a run, I’m drenched. I mean, rotating my wrist sweatband every which way to find a spot resembling dryness, and my scalp is so sweaty, if it weren't for the sun-scorched pony tail sticking to the middle of my back, you wouldn’t know my hair is blonde.
Please, be careful. This is the desert.
Natural History Museum (53 N. MacDonald, Mesa): You’ll know you’re at the right place when you see the acrocanthosaurus crashing through the museum's outside wall. This museum is my favorite for exploring the region’s pre-historic, natural, and cultural history. There is a territorial jail, an area where you can pan for gold, and coin-operated mutoscopes, which were 19th-century motion picture devices that operated like flip books. The three-story Dinosaur Mountain is a family favorite, with simulations – including flash floods and lightning – happening throughout the day. There are numerous exhibits that cover all types of dinosaurs.
USA Skateland (7 E. Southern Avenue, Mesa). Choose from classic roller skates or rollerblades and enjoy 13,000 square feet of fun. The schedule is packed with various themes, such as Summerween (Halloween in the Summer), Sweet Treat Tuesdays, Football Frenzy, Harry Potter, Old-Timer (“Featuring the Greatest Hits of the 20th Century”), and Friday Glow Night, just to name a few. There are also lessons available.
Botanical Garden (1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix): If someone has never been to Phoenix and are looking for one thing they must do while here, I’d recommend this garden. So would a lot of other people, too. According to PHOENIX magazine's Best of the Valley edition, this garden has topped the "Best Place to Take Visitors" category since 2003.
Built in 1939, this collection boasts thousands of cacti, agaves, succulents, shrubs, trees, and wildflowers, plus hundreds of rare or endangered species you’re unlikely to see elsewhere. There are also educational displays mixed within the trails, including an Akimel O’odham and Apache households, and various educational programs for children and adults. This fall, for example, there will be classes on “beneficial bugs,” making your own compost, and summer gardening.
During the summer months, I recommend going as early in the morning as you can, or waiting until the evening.
The Ostrich (10 N. San Marcos Place, Chandler): No secret password needed. And don’t expect to see a sign advertising it, either. This inconspicuous watering hole in Chandler was a speakeasy during Prohibition (1920-1933). City founder A. J. Chandler built it as a basement in 1912, and after Prohibition, used it to store his ostrich feather collection. A reason The Ostrich maintains a 1920s vibe is because the place was boarded up in the 1950s until circa 2014, when Crust co-owners Mike Merendino and Ryan Mitchell opened their third location in the building above.
Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights (5025 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix): Also known as the “wedding cake castle” because of its tiered architecture, this four-story house and garden is full of history and mystery. Italian-born Alessio Carraro built it in 1931, then sold it to cattle magnate Edward and Della Tovrea. Edward Tovrea died of pneumonia the following year, and Della remarried in 1936 to Prescott Courier publisher William P. Stuart.
After Stuart died in 1960, Della lived alone on the property until 1968, when, on a dark and stormy night, she heard intruders. She fired her pistol, hoping to frighten them. But they were not deterred. They tied the then-80-year-old woman to a chair and made off with $50,000 in cash, silver, and jewels. She died the following year and the castle fell into disrepair until Phoenix voters approved spending $5 million to purchase and to restore it. A $4.5 million bond authorized in 2001 helped the city expand its holdings around the castle to 43 acres.
(Spoiler alert: The bullet hole remains in the kitchen ceiling.)
You cannot view the castle and gardens without reserving a ticket for a docent-led tour. And these tickets are in such high demand, you have to enter a lottery to get one. The Spring 2025 ticket lottery runs October 1-15. Sign up as soon as you can on October 1.
On a more seasonal note, be sure to attend the state and county fairs if you’re here during the fall or spring. Other than when it was canceled for the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be my first time missing a fair and not entering anything into the horticulture or fine arts competitions since I moved to Arizona. Both fairs are held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds (1826 W McDowell Road, Phoenix). The 2024 Arizona State Fair will be September 20 through October 27, and the 2025 Maricopa County Fair will be April 4-6 and 10-13.