My sister Karen was out to visit and I thought we should go on at least one hike while she was here. Boris found some info on Papago Park, and we decided this would be a great place to go because it was not too far away, almost in the center of the city, and it didn’t require any hill climbing.
This park is easy to find and has ample parking, we parked in the zoo lot. There is lots to do in and around the park, including the Desert Botanical Gardens, of course the Zoo and a Municipal Golf Course is nearby.
There are tons of trails and bike paths here, making it for easy walking and biking. We were here only for 3 hours and saw only a small portion of this large park. We saw the hole in the rock, Papago Buttes and sheep perched precariously on the side of steep hills. I could swear they were watching us just as we were watching them.
We walked along the canal path for a while and were contemplating going around the golf course, but it would have ended up being little too long of a walk. Along the way we also partook in one of my favourite past times, Geocaching. If you are a cacher, there are a lot of them out here.
There are fishing lagoons, all with nice vegetation, a pyramid shaped tomb, and lots of areas to stop and have a picnic. It was very quiet here today, but I could imagine how busy it would be on a weekend or holiday.
You could spend a few hours at Papago Park or the whole day, if you wished to do so. Either way, it is a great place to visit.
We ended this day by having lunch at a little Mexican restaurant called La Barquita, located at 2334 E. McDowell Rd., about a 10 min. drive from the park. The food here is really, really good and very reasonably priced. If you like authentic Mexican food, this is one of the places to go. No fancy decor but fresh, home-cooked meals. A great way to end the day.
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- Hole in the rock
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- Holes eroded on the top of rocks
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- Pretty lagoon with picnic areas
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- Lake along walking path
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- Lake
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- Pyramid
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- View from high point
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- Rock formations
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- Mirror imaging
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