Phoenix and Scottsdale Travel Guide | Arizona Southwest

Phoenix sits at 1,117 feet elevation in the Salt River Valley, bordered by the McDowell Mountains to the northeast, South Mountain to the south, and the White Tank Mountains to the west. The city incorporated in 1881 with 2,500 residents and reached 1,660,272 by the 2020 census, making it the fifth-largest city in the United States by population. Scottsdale, immediately adjacent to Phoenix's eastern boundary, incorporated in 1951 and recorded 241,361 residents in 2020. Both cities lie within the Sonoran Desert biome, where average July high temperatures reach 106 degrees Fahrenheit and January lows drop to 45 degrees. The metropolitan area receives 8.03 inches of annual precipitation measured at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport over the 1991-2020 climatological period.

The Valley of the Sun, as the metropolitan area is marketed, depends entirely on engineered water infrastructure. The Salt River Project, authorized by the National Reclamation Act of 1902, constructed Roosevelt Dam between 1905 and 1911 at a cost of $10 million. The dam created Roosevelt Lake with 2,910 acre-feet of storage capacity when full. Phoenix receives 1.5 million acre-feet annually from the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project canal, completed in 1993 after 20 years of construction at a cost of $4 billion. The canal runs 336 miles from Lake Havasu to Tucson, lifting water 3,000 feet through 14 pumping stations. Groundwater pumping from the Phoenix Active Management Area, established in 1980, is now restricted to annual recharge levels, which declined from 2.8 million acre-feet in 1980 to 1.1 million acre-feet by 2020 according to Arizona Department of Water Resources monitoring data.

Downtown Phoenix centers on Washington Street, where the copper-domed Arizona State Capitol, completed in 1901 when Arizona was still a territory, now operates as a museum after the legislature moved to adjacent buildings in 1960. The Heard Museum, founded in 1929 at 2301 North Central Avenue, holds 44,000 objects representing indigenous cultures of the Southwest, including 2,500 katsina figures and the Barry Goldwater collection of 437 historic Hopi katsinas donated in 1964. The museum's permanent collection includes Navajo textiles from the 1860s Long Walk period and Apache basketry dating to 1880. Entry costs $25 for adults as of 2024. The Phoenix Art Museum, opened in 1959 at 1625 North Central Avenue, displays 20,000 works including the Thorne Miniature Rooms donated in 1962 and a Western American collection with paintings by members of the Taos Society of Artists active from 1915 to 1927.

Musical Instrument Museum, opened in 2010 at 4725 East Mayo Boulevard in north Phoenix, holds 8,000 instruments and objects from 200 countries and territories across five continents. The museum occupies 200,000 square feet and uses wireless headphone guides synchronized to 1,100 video screens showing musicians playing the displayed instruments in their cultural contexts. The Southwest Gallery contains Navajo ceremonial rattles, Apache fiddles made from hollowed agave stalks, and Tohono O'odham basket drums. Admission costs $24 for adults. Desert Botanical Garden, established in 1939 on 140 acres in Papago Park at 1201 North Galvin Parkway, cultivates 50,000 plants representing 4,000 taxa, with two-thirds native to desert regions. The garden's collection includes 1,350 species of cacti and 350 agave taxa. Five thematic trails total 1.5 miles. The garden documents 139 species endemic to the Sonoran Desert and maintains a seed bank holding 450 accessions of rare desert plants. Adult admission costs $30 during peak season.

Papago Park, a 1,500-acre municipal park shared between Phoenix and Tempe, consists of red Tertiary-period sandstone outcrops eroded into buttes and gaps. Hole-in-the-Rock, a natural thalus opening in a butte's north face, was used by the Hohokam as an astronomical marker aligning with the sunrise on the summer solstice, documented by archaeoastronomy studies conducted in 1980 by the Arizona State Museum. The park contains the Phoenix Zoo, opened in 1962 on 125 acres and maintaining 3,000 animals representing 400 species as of 2024. The zoo's Arizona Trail exhibits 160 native species including Mexican gray wolves from the captive breeding program managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1998. Adult zoo admission costs $30. Pueblo Grande Museum, at 4619 East Washington Street adjacent to Sky Harbor Airport, preserves a Hohokam platform mound and village site occupied from 450 CE to 1450 CE. The platform mound measures 300 feet long, 200 feet wide, and 20 feet high. Excavations between 1929 and 1960 documented 20 miles of irrigation canals radiating from the site, with main channels measuring 15 feet wide and 6 feet deep.

Camelback Mountain, named for its profile resembling a kneeling camel, rises to 2,704 feet, providing 1,420 feet of elevation gain from trailheads. The Echo Canyon Trail on the mountain's east side ascends 1.23 miles over bedrock with cable handrails installed on the steepest sections. The mountain consists of Precambrian granite overlaid with 25-million-year-old volcanic rock that resisted erosion while surrounding sediments washed away. The summit offers 360-degree views spanning 50 miles on clear days. The trail records approximately 300,000 visits annually, with the Phoenix Fire Department conducting an average of 150 mountain rescues per year according to department statistics from 2015 to 2023. Piestewa Peak, the second-highest point in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve at 2,610 feet, renamed in 2008 from Squaw Peak to honor Army Specialist Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman killed in combat while serving in the U.S. military, provides a 1.2-mile summit trail gaining 1,190 feet in elevation.

Scottsdale's Old Town district centers on Brown Avenue and Main Street, where wood-frame storefronts built between 1920 and 1950 now house 90 galleries and studios. The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, opened in 1999 at 7374 East Second Street as a satellite of the Phoenix Art Museum, occupies a 20,500-square-foot building designed by architect Will Bruder, featuring a 42-foot-tall steel Knight Rise sculpture. The museum mounts 12 to 15 exhibitions annually focusing on contemporary art, architecture, and design, with no permanent collection. Admission costs $15. Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, at 12621 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard in northeast Scottsdale, served as Wright's winter home and architectural school from 1937 until his death in 1959. The complex covers 600 acres in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains. Wright and apprentices constructed the buildings using desert masonry, setting local rocks into concrete forms they called "desert rubble walls." The site became a National Historic Landmark in 1982. Guided tours run 60 to 180 minutes depending on access level, with basic tours costing $37 for adults.

McDowell Sonoran Preserve, established by Scottsdale voters in 1995 through a sales tax measure, protects 30,580 acres of Sonoran Desert habitat, making it the largest urban preserve in the United States. The preserve contains 215 miles of trails accessed from 11 trailheads. Elevations range from 1,800 feet at the southern boundary to 4,069 feet at Thompson Peak in the McDowell Mountains. The preserve records 860 vascular plant species, including 35 species of cacti. Wildlife monitoring documented 100 bird species, 47 mammal species, and 27 reptile species between 2004 and 2020. The Tom's Thumb Trail, ascending 4.1 miles from the Tom's Thumb Trailhead to a distinctive granite outcrop at 3,925 feet, gains 1,425 feet in elevation and attracts rock climbers to routes rated 5.6 to 5.11 on the Yosemite Decimal System. The Gateway Trailhead at Thompson Peak Parkway and 136th Street provides access to 13 trails totaling 38 miles.

Scottsdale's arts economy employs 4,800 people according to 2019 data from the Scottsdale Arts office. The Scottsdale Arts District contains 125 galleries concentrated in three areas: Main Street Arts District, Marshall Way Arts District, and Old Town. Cosanti, at 6433 East Doubletree Ranch Road, serves as the studio and residence of architect Paolo Soleri, who moved to Arizona in 1956 to study with Frank Lloyd Wright. Soleri developed arcology, combining architecture and ecology in dense urban structures designed to minimize environmental impact. At Cosanti, Soleri cast bronze and ceramic windbells and developed silt-casting techniques using desert soil as molds. Tours cost $15. Soleri's larger project, Arcosanti, lies 65 miles north of Phoenix near Cordes Junction, where construction began in 1970 on a prototype arcology designed for 5,000 residents. As of 2024, 13 structures house 50 to 80 residents and visitors. Arcosanti produces bronze and ceramic bells sold to fund ongoing construction.

The Phoenix metropolitan area supports two Saguaro National Park district units, though both lie near Tucson 100 miles southeast, making same-day visits require dedicated planning. Locally, the Desert Foothills Land Trust protects 33,000 acres in the Cave Creek area north of Scottsdale through conservation easements established since the organization's founding in 1991. The Tonto National Forest, administered from an office at 2324 East McDowell Road in Phoenix, encompasses 2.9 million acres surrounding the metropolitan area on three sides. The forest contains 900 miles of trails, eight wilderness areas totaling 427,940 acres, and seven reservoirs created by dams on the Salt and Verde rivers. The Apache Trail, State Route 88, runs 46 miles from Apache Junction through the Superstition Mountains to Roosevelt Dam, with 22 miles remaining unpaved as a narrow gravel road carved into cliffsides above Apache Lake. The route opened in 1905 to transport materials for Roosevelt Dam construction.

South Mountain Park and Preserve, at 16,283 acres, claims status as one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. The park provides 58 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Summit Road, a paved 5-mile route, ascends to Dobbins Lookout at 2,330 feet elevation. Petroglyphs created by the Hohokam between 300 CE and 1450 CE appear on basalt boulders along several trails, with the highest concentration accessible via the Mormon Trail near the park's western boundary. The park recorded 3.2 million visits in 2019 according to Phoenix Parks and Recreation data. North Mountain Park and Preserve covers 7,140 acres and contains 40 miles of trails. The North Mountain National Trail climbs 1.5 miles to the 2,104-foot summit, gaining 841 feet from the trailhead at the park's Seventh Street entrance.

Phoenix's canal system, built by the Hohokam from 450 CE to 1450 CE and reconstructed beginning in 1867 by Anglo settlers, now totals 180 miles operated by the Salt River Project. The Arizona Canal, completed in 1885, runs 40 miles from Granite Reef Dam to the west valley, dropping 3.5 feet per mile. The canal delivers 500,000 acre-feet annually to agricultural and municipal users. A 14-mile multi-use path parallels the canal from Scottsdale Road west into Phoenix. The Grand Canal, completed in 1878, extends 23 miles and served as the region's primary irrigation channel until additional canals came online in the 1880s and 1890s. Archaeological surveys identified 500 miles of prehistoric Hohokam canals beneath the modern metropolitan area, with some prehistoric channels measuring 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep.

Tempe Town Lake, completed in 1999 on a 2-mile section of the usually-dry Salt River bed, holds 965 acre-feet of water behind inflatable rubber dams installed at each end. The lake's surface covers 220 acres at normal pool. The rubber dam system cost $36 million to construct. One dam deflated in 2010 during heavy flow, draining the lake in 90 minutes and stranding boats on the riverbed. Repairs cost $18 million and took 18 months. The lake now operates with redundant systems and remote monitoring. The Tempe Beach Park riverwalk extends 1 mile along the south shore. Arizona State University's Tempe campus borders the lake's north side. The university enrolled 80,065 students across four campuses in fall 2023, with 65,492 at the Tempe campus. The campus originated in 1885 as a territorial normal school on donated land.

The Phoenix metropolitan food economy centers on Mexican regional preparations and indigenous Southwestern ingredients adapted to commercial restaurant service. Barrio Café, operating since 2002 at 2814 North 16th Street, serves interior Mexican preparations including cochinita pibil, Yucatecan slow-roasted pork marinated in achiote and bitter orange, traditionally cooked in underground pits but prepared here in conventional ovens. The restaurant's mole negro contains 32 ingredients including chilhuacle negro chiles and Mexican chocolate, following Oaxacan methods. Reservations required for dinner service. Los Sombreros, with locations in Scottsdale and central Phoenix, specializes in Sonoran-style preparations including carne asada grilled over mesquite wood and flour tortillas made in-house from wheat flour, lard, and salt. Sonoran flour tortillas differ from northern Mexican and Texas versions by their thin rolling and higher lard ratio. The Mission, at 3815 North Brown Avenue in Scottsdale's Old Town and 100 West Camelback Road in central Phoenix, combines Latin American techniques with locally sourced ingredients, offering variations on street foods from multiple regions.

Pizzeria Bianco, operating since 1988 and relocating in 2022 to Heritage Square at 623 East Adams Street downtown, produces pizzas using a wood-fired oven and 24-hour fermented dough. Chef Chris Bianco sources Arizona-grown tomatoes and mozzarella from Capriole Goat Cheese in Greenville, Indiana. The pizzeria seats 40 and accepts walk-in customers only, resulting in wait times of 90 to 180 minutes during peak service. FnB Restaurant, at 7133 East Stetson Drive in Scottsdale, opened in 2009 emphasizing Arizona farmers and ranchers, changing menus based on seasonal availability. The restaurant lists suppliers on each menu. Dinner entrees range from $28 to $48. The Larder + The Delta, at 1003 East Camelback Road, opened in 2019 serving Southern regional food prepared by chef Stephen Jones, a James Beard Award semifinalist in 2022 and 2023. The restaurant serves Arkansas-style smoked meats, Gulf Coast seafood, and Delta region vegetables.

Phoenix's Hatch chile season runs August through September, when New Mexico's Hatch Valley harvest arrives at grocery stores, restaurants, and dedicated roasting operations. Whole Foods Market locations and specialty grocers roast chiles on-site in propane-fired drum roasters. Hatch chiles are Anaheim-type capsicum annuum cultivars grown in the Hatch Valley's specific soil and elevation conditions. The chiles measure 3,000 to 8,000 Scoville heat units depending on variety and growing conditions. Restaurants add Hatch chile to burgers, pizzas, and egg dishes during the seasonal window. Year-round preparations use frozen roasted chiles or dried pods. The chile's popularity in Arizona exceeds that in most regions outside New Mexico due to cultural overlap and geographic proximity.