PHOENIX ROAD TRIP OVERVIEW

PHOENIX ROAD TRIP MAP

Please feel free to download this map for your personal use when planning your trip.

To download this Google Map, click on the grey star at the top of the map and this map will be added to your Google Maps account. You can then view it on your phone or computer in Google Maps by clicking on the menu button, going to “Your Places” and selecting this map. 

We use these maps in the planning stage of creating all our itineraries as you can set out your plan in advance and then quickly reference these maps through the planning process.

WHERE TO STAY IN PHOENIX

Phoenix is compact enough that you can set up camp in one spot rather than move from night to night. We picked an Airbnb somewhere fairly central, but you could pretty much do this itinerary whilst staying anywhere within striking distance of the coast.

PHOENIX ROAD TRIP: DAY 1

Waterfall Canyon Trail  |  Pioneer Living History Museum  |  Taliesin West

Our trip starts to the West of Phoenix for a hike along Waterfall Canyon Trail. The trail is located within White Tank Mountain Regional Park, which offers many other trails if you want to do more hiking. The Waterfall Canyon Trail is an easy hike along a pretty flat surface for almost all of its length. Only towards the end does it involve a bit more clambering, but if the waterfall is flowing, this part will be pretty inaccessible anyway. If it’s not, you can see into the cascade pool if you wish. Along the hike, you can view many rocks with ancient petroglyphs on them dating back many thousands of years.

After the hike out west, we head to the north of the city to the Pioneer Living History Museum. This outdoor museum set in 90 acres houses about 30 stops in their town for visitors to explore. The time period of the town is during pioneer times, hence the name, which dates from 1863 to 1912. The living part of the museum is because many of the stops include costumed characters talking about the buildings, the history and the artefacts on display. With everything from a church to a schoolhouse and a Sheriff’s office to a Victorian house, there are plenty of things to explore during your visit.

The final stop for the day is at Taliesin West, the Arizona winter home of the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Since his death, it is the home of his foundation and offers guided tours of the interesting architecture including pointing out aspects you probably wouldn’t notice if they weren’t pointed out to you. Depending on your level of interest, you can choose from a variety of tours of different lengths. We took the 90-minute “Insights Tour” which we felt offered a good insight into the estate.

PHOENIX ROAD TRIP: DAY 2

Apache Trail  |  Theodore Roosevelt Dam  |  Tonto National Monument

After a hike to start day 1, day 2 is all about a scenic drive. The Apache Trail is a 40 mile (65 km) trail through the Superstition Mountains to the northeast of Phoenix. Paved, to begin with, the road gives way to a gravel road for much of its length. However, don’t let that put you off, it is easy to drive and doesn’t require an off-road vehicle or any special skills. Along the drive, you can choose to stop at various lookout points, a ghost town, lakes and the small town of Tortilla Flat.

At the end of the Apache Trail, you’ll arrive at the Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Built in 1911 from bricks it remains the world’s largest masonry dam, standing at 91m tall. In front of the dam is a scenic look-off with toilet facilities and information placards about the dam.

A short distance beyond the end of the Apache Trail you’ll find the Tonto National Monument. Here the national park service tells the story of what is known about the Salado people. The dwellings which are high up in the cliffs were occupied as long ago as 1150-1450 AD. Why they lived up there and why they deserted the dwellings are mysteries, but what is left behind makes for a fascinating trek up to explore the lower ruins. If you want to learn more about the monument then you can book the tour to the upper ruins. These are larger, but require a much longer walk across rougher terrain to reach and you have to reserve a tour in advance to visit them.

PHOENIX ROAD TRIP: DAY 3

Desert Botanical Garden  |  Hole in the Rock  |  Soleri Bridge  |  Mystery Castle  |  Gila and Dobbins Lookouts

The last day of this short, but intense, itinerary starts with a visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens. Set out over 140 acres within Papago Park, the gardens showcase over 21,000 plants, with 140 of those on the rare, threatened or endangered list. Visitors can wander around the various sections at their own pace and enjoy the beautifully manicured gardens. You can also check their events calendar as they run many special events during the year.

Next to the gardens is the naturally occurring rock formation known as Hole in the Rock. Whether you just check it out from ground level or make the climb up to get closer to the hole, the rock is worth checking out. The climb up is not too arduous and does offer a great view of the area.

If you can time your arrival at Soleri Bridge just before solar noon, you can check out the unique feature of this bridge. The two columns have a narrow split between them and at solar noon (which is not necessarily 12:00) the sunlight peeks through the slit and bathes the thin line of red bricks with the midday sun.

The bridge was designed by Paolo Soleri and the shadows length change with the season, lengthening in the winter and shortening in the summer. On the solstices, they are at their longest (winter) and disappeared completely (summer). The speed with which the light shines through the gap only to be in shadow moments later illustrates how fast the earth is moving around the sun, even though it appears to be barely moving at all most of the time.

Heading south from the city, you can explore the oddity that is the Mystery Castle. This eclectic building appears to have been built with anything that the builder could find, which is pretty much what happened. The builder was Boyce Gully who left his family when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis so that they wouldn’t catch it.

Settling south of Phoenix, he began to build a castle for his daughter who had asked for a castle which wouldn’t wash away when building sandcastles on the beach as a child. Over many years, Boyce created an 18 room castle. Sadly he died before his family could see, but once his daughter arrived as an adult she moved in and lived in the fairy castle that her father had built for her.

The final stop of the day is to head up into the South Mountain Park along the winding summit road to a pair of lookouts. Gila Lookout faces out to the south and Dobbins Lookout at the highest point in the park offers panoramic views in all directions. The two lookouts are worth a visit to take in the spectacular views and round out a great trip.

BEST TIME TO TAKE AN PHOENIX ROAD TRIP

In our opinion, the best time to visit Phoenix is either the spring (March to May) or the autumn (mid-September to October). The weather is good (although it can vary so pack layers!) especially as it gets closer to May and it will still be warm in September. The summer crowds aren’t in full swing and accommodation rates aren’t as high as the peak season and you’ll avoid the scorching heat of a Phoenix summer.

We visited in November and found everything we wanted to visit was open, though the living history museum wasn’t as “living” as it is in the busier months. Nowhere we visited was very crowded and in some cases, we had “private” tours as we happened to be the only people visiting a particular attraction at the time, which was fantastic!

But you may not be able to visit during those times of the year so what should you expect in the summer or winter?

In the summer (June to mid-September) the days are long (like 08:30 pm sunsets), the weather is insanely hot, and every sightseeing attraction, B&B, and hotel is open. However, with this, you’ll also find the biggest crowds, especially in the most popular sites. This is also the time of year where airfare, car rental, and hotel prices will be the highest.

In the winter (November – February) there are fewer daylight hours and in many cases, you may find some of the sites are closed. The weather is usually still warm with not too much chance of rain, so as long as the sights you want to visit are open, it can still be a great time to visit. You are also more likely to find great prices on airfares, hotels, and B&Bs (though some B&Bs may not be open at all).

RESOURCES | PLAN YOUR PHOENIX ROAD TRIP

These are a few tours we would recommend for your Phoenix road trip.