Things to do in Phoenix

Nature · South Phoenix

Around 16,000 acres of desert mountain inside the city — one of the largest municipal parks in the United States, with more than 50 miles of trail.

Local tip: Dobbins Lookout at sunset is the classic, and the road up is open to cars. The trails on the western Kiwanis side are far quieter. In summer the city closes trails during extreme heat warnings and it is enforced — check before you go.

Nature · Papago Park, east Phoenix

140 acres of Sonoran desert planting with one of the largest cactus collections anywhere, set among red sandstone buttes.

Local tip: Go at opening or for the evening programmes in summer, not at midday. The spring wildflower weeks and the winter Las Noches de las Luminarias are when locals actually come, and both sell out.

Culture · Central Phoenix, on Central Avenue

The leading museum of Native American art in the country, with a permanent exhibition on the Indian boarding schools that is unflinching.

Local tip: It is a short walk from the light rail, which almost nobody uses to get there. The boarding school exhibition is the reason to come and it takes an hour on its own — do not treat this as a quick stop.

Neighborhood · Downtown Phoenix

The downtown arts district — galleries, murals, bars and the monthly First Friday art walk that draws tens of thousands.

Local tip: First Friday is genuinely the easiest way to meet people in a metro that can feel socially diffuse. Come by light rail; parking during the walk is miserable, and the Grand Avenue end is more interesting than the Roosevelt end.

Nature · Between Phoenix and Scottsdale

The metro's defining landmark and its most-climbed summit, with two steep, exposed routes to the top.

Local tip: This is a genuinely serious hike, not a walk — Echo Canyon and Cholla both involve scrambling and the rescue helicopter is a regular sight. Do not start it after 8am from May to September, carry far more water than feels sensible, and take Cholla if it is your first time.

Nature · Tonto National Forest, 45 minutes north-east

A cold, clear river through the Sonoran Desert with a resident herd of wild horses, and a reservoir lake behind Stewart Mountain Dam.

Local tip: Newcomers spend their first summer in a pool and never learn this is here. The river runs cold year-round because it comes off the bottom of a dam, the wild horses are genuinely wild and protected by state law, and a Tonto day pass costs very little. Go on a weekday; summer weekends are chaotic.