Do
Sunset kayak on Tempe Town Lake
Skyline on one side, Papago buttes on the other, and it's ten degrees cooler on the water.
Tempe
$Outdoors
Outdoors
Trails, patios, and desert air — seasonally filtered so nobody gets hurt.
September · The Turn
September is the turn — mornings and nights are workable, afternoons still aren't. Plan around 7am and 7pm.
Escape
Flagstaff for the day
Two hours north, thirty degrees cooler, pines and a downtown built for walking. The August cheat code.
Flagstaff
$Outdoors
Family
Desert Botanical Garden
Do the flashlight tour or the last hour before close. The butterfly exhibit reopens with the season.
Papago Park
$$Outdoors
Escape
Sedona red rocks
Two hours and a different planet. Go on a weekday or leave Phoenix before 7am.
Sedona
$$Outdoors
Escape
Mogollon Rim & Payson
Ninety minutes to pine forest and a 2,000-foot escarpment. Bring a cooler, stay for sunset.
Payson
$Outdoors
Escape
Echo Canyon at sunrise
1.2 miles, 1,200 feet, no shade. Trailhead lot fills by 6am and the city closes it when it's too hot.
Camelback Mountain
FreeOutdoors
Escape
Piestewa Peak Summit Trail
The in-town summit. Steep, crowded, and worth it for the 6pm October light.
Phoenix Mountains
FreeOutdoors
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
Family
Phoenix Zoo
Back in play once mornings drop under 95. Arrive at open, out by 11.
Papago Park
$$Outdoors
Family
Enchanted Island at Encanto Park
A 1948 carousel and a paddle-boat lagoon. Old-fashioned in the best way.
Encanto
$Outdoors