Day Trips in Arizona – just a few to get you started. I moved to Arizona twenty years ago, thinking I was moving to a sandy desert. Once here, my friends and family, wanting to get away from the snow back East, found me. I found myself playing tour guide, which was wonderful, because in Arizona there is no limit of things to see. And best of all, they are mostly within a day’s drive and inexpensive.
Of course, there is the well-known sight of the Grand Canyon, which is about a five-hour trip one way and it is north, which can be snowy in the wintertime. So this is usually an overnight trip.
The Rim
But within just a few hours there is Payson and the Mogollon (pronounded Muggy-Own) Rim and the beautiful lakes up there.
This is about a two hour easy drive to Payson and then another hour up Route 360 to the top of the rim.
Of course, it will probably take longer with your stops to take in the view as you climb. Once at the top you are 2,000-foot-high, with a view that goes on forever. Sightseeing is just one thing to do along this Rim. Tucked into the forest on the other side from the drop off, are several beautiful lakes with camp grounds for fishing, boating, hiking, picnicking, etc. So you can go up and back in a day, or plan to camp out overnight.
Closer Local Lakes Day Trips in Arizona
Surprisingly, here in the desert, we are surrounded by mountains and by lakes. One of my favorite day trips is to Canyon Lake. Take Highway 60 to Apache Junction and then take The Apache Trail – Route 88.
This is a man-made lake created by damming the Salt River. In the series there are four connecting lakes Saguaro, Canyon, Apache, and Roosevelt. Canyon Lake offers the most attractions. Boating, swimming, a small abandoned stagecoach town, population 6, called Tortilla Flats, and a wonderful boat trip called The Dolly Steamboat. The Dolly trip is a little over an hour and goes down thru the canyon offering glimpses of wildlife (long horn sheep), petrified wood embedded into the rock sides, rock formations, and a surprise at the turning point. I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you. During the tourist season, reservations are recommended.
After the steamboat trip, a late lunch at Tortilla Flats tops off the trip. The unique restaurant offers great choices of Mexican fare or burgers, bar stools to be remembered, as well as a souvenir selfie in the also unique ladies restroom.
A Little Closer In
During the season, we have the Renaissance Fair, which you will see heavily advertised. It is a fun outdoor day.
But up in the same direction is a lovely botanical garden – Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior – just up Highway 60 beyond Apache Junction. This is a state park with guided tours and other activities. See the calendar here. Lovely flowers, birds, butterflies and other creatures. It is a bit of a lengthy hike, so wear appropriate footwear.
The local cities also provide some weekend activities which include the always fun Chandler Ostrich Festival, featuring daily ostrich races. It is in March this year and also offers rides for the kids and the usual fair yummies.
The Town of Gilbert holds what they call a Feastival, which sadly has come and gone this year. It was early in January, 2020, but their gathering of the Valley’s best Food Trucks, Live Music and Local Boutique Vendors continues every Friday night year round at changing locations.
The City of Mesa offers the Downtown Mesa Festival of the Arts which is a free event featuring unique artist creations, music and fun for the whole family.The season events will be held on the 1st & 3rd Saturdays of each month, October through April. See for details.
Going Southeast toward Tucson and Beyond there is more Day Trips in Arizona
In Tucson there is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
This is truly a wonderful day to become acquainted with everything Arizonan. It is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place. Exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region with more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants along almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert. I just saw they have Raptor flights daily. The pictures are awesome. I want to go again.
Plan Your Visit – Titan Missile Museum – Underground Nuclear …
The Titan Missile Museum is the only remaining Titan II site open to the public, allowing you to re-live a time when the threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union was a reality. Go here to find driving directions.
Continuing East from Tucson more Day Trips in Arizona
Further East from Tucson are the towns of Bisbee offering a sightseeing tour into a copper mine and great steaks along Whiskey Gulch. Quaint B&B’s are available too, to house you overnight so you can continue on to Tombstone the next day.
Once Back in the Phoenix area you might try another trip to the Southwest.
A fun shopping trip across the border at Yuma to the Mexican town of Los Algadones. Los Algadones features discount dentistry, and other medical items, such as medicine and eyeglasses. But there is also a fun cantina just next to the crossing bridge with music and good food. Also, you will find street vendors with good discount prices on leather goods and jewelry. Prices are in US Dollars and you can barter. You can park on the US side right at the crossing and walk across the short bridge into the town. It is pretty safe as long as you stay on the main street, but beware the margaritas may be a bit potent.
And if you long to see the Colorado River you can do a day trip to the West clear to the California border. I went to a rock show out there once. A town called Quartsite. Quartzsite is located in western Arizona, just 20 miles east of the Colorado River on I-10. It’s been a rockhound’s paradise since the 1960s. These days, it’s also a mecca to well over a million visitors each year, most of whom converge on this small town in a wave of RVs during the winter months.
And Finally I saved the best for last another Day Trip in Arizona
I saved this last little trip for last because it really is too far (approx. 150 miles) to do in a day. But a visit to the four corners – Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah holds some wonders that shouldn’t be missed. Here lies the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. And the also interesting Navajo communities. An overnight stay in a motel in nearby Holbrook may bring you an impromptu Navajo dance exhibition.
Thank you for visiting my little tour guide – I hope you will enjoy one or all of them.
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