Escape
Flagstaff for the day
Two hours north, thirty degrees cooler, pines and a downtown built for walking. The August cheat code.
Flagstaff
$Outdoors
Day trips, weekend getaways, outdoors
Escape
Two hours north and it's forty degrees cooler. Rim country, wine country, and the trails that come back into play.
Late August in Phoenix is an indoor sport. Everything below is cooled, shaded, or scheduled after sundown.
Escape
Sedona red rocks
Two hours and a different planet. Go on a weekday or leave Phoenix before 7am.
Sedona
$$Outdoors
Escape
Jerome & Verde Valley wine
A mining town clinging to a mountainside, plus the tasting rooms in Cottonwood on the way home.
Jerome
$$Indoor + out
Escape
Mogollon Rim & Payson
Ninety minutes to pine forest and a 2,000-foot escarpment. Bring a cooler, stay for sunset.
Payson
$Outdoors
Escape
Dobbins Lookout drive
You can drive to the best view of the valley. Free, and unbeatable forty minutes before sunset.
South Mountain
FreeOutdoors
Escape
Salt River tubing (final weekends)
The season closes in late September. Cash for the shuttle, no glass, wild horses on the bank.
Mesa / TontoAug 20 – Sep 27
$Outdoors
Date to confirm
Escape
Prescott & Watson Lake
Granite Dells, Whiskey Row, and a courthouse square that runs about 20 degrees below Phoenix.
Prescott
$Outdoors