4 places to visit in the Phoenix area - Schnepf Farms, Queen Creek Olive Mill, Wildlife World Zoo, Arizona native Frybread
May 29th, 2007, 11:28 AM
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4 places to visit in the Phoenix area - Schnepf Farms, Queen Creek Olive Mill, Wildlife World Zoo, Arizona native Frybread
Even though my wife and I have lived for a combined 98 years in the Phoenix area, we discovered four places of interest this past year worthy of a day trip or a short diversion.
Last fall we went to Schnepf Farms, the last agritourism site left in the Phoenix area. (two others – Duncan Farms and Dugan Dairy and one outside Phoenix – Young Farms in Dewey, ceased operations in the past year or so ). Located Southeast of Phoenix in Queen Creek, Schnepf Farms (www.schnepffarms.com) continues operation as a peach orchard as well as its tourism. Queen Creek used to be a real peach center. Its farmers grew some of the earliest peaches in the country and even used to have them shipped by air to market. Farmland is rapidly disappearing in the area as the fields are sprouting homes instead of potatoes. (Queen Creek was also excellent for potato chip potatoes)
The farm has a big pumpkin festival, and annually creates a huge maze in the cornfield. One year it was in the shape of talk show host Larry King; another year it was in the shape of Arizona Diamondback player Luis Gonzales. It’s a fun place for all but is suited more to the younger child. The part I liked best were the pig races (they also raced goats – they don’t race very well). One of the pig varieties raced is a rare variety which is raised at Schnepf and a couple of other farms in the U.S.
Schnepf Farms has several special events during the year and is not open every day, so be sure to check before driving out. For example, a frost this year cancelled their Peach Festival.
Across the street from Schnepf is the Queen Creek Olive Mill (www.queencreekolivemill.com), the only olive mill in Arizona. While the store is open most days, tour frequency depends on the season. For $5, the tour shows how the olives are turned into olive oil. As you can imagine, it’s not complicated! But it is interesting and the $5 is applied to any purchase of $10 or more. Since we seem to spend over $100 the 3 times we have gone, it is no great burden to spend $10. They recently added a small restaurant but I haven’t been there since it has been opened. There are no pests to the olive in Arizona so all olives are pesticide free. The mill has a small grove of their own and custom mill olives from other growers. The day we first took the tour, they were pressing a ton from a monastery in southern Arizona.
My wife and son visited the Wildlife World Zoo (www.wildlifeworld.com) last fall and I joined them for a return trip a couple of weeks ago. It is a great zoo. Both my wife and I like it better than the Phoenix Zoo which we have been visiting since it opened in the 1960’s. What I liked best about it is: The animals are meant to be seen by the visitors – not hidden in their ‘natural environment’. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t given plenty of room and are stuck in cages like in zoos decades ago. It’s just that with one or two exceptions, the animals were easy to spot. The highlight of the zoo is the baby tigers – Rajah and Nash (named after Phoenix Suns players). Nash is a white tiger. We watched them play for a long time – could have spent an hour and still enjoyed it. A white alligator is also an attraction. There is a skyride that is very nice, giving a good view of the zoo. While we were on the ride, we spotted a bunch of baby warthogs running around. There is a wildlife encounter show three times a day, but we did not see it. You may feed the ducks, fish and GIRAFFES. Nearby is Luke Air Force Base. Sometimes the pilots are practicing takeoffs and landings – fun to watch as you are driving out to the zoo which is in Litchfield Park, about 15 miles west of Phoenix. Credit cards are not accepted (they have an ATM in their store/entrance). We spent a rushed 2 hours at the zoo – 3 to 4 would have been better.
On a recent trip to Oklahoma I visited with my second cousin’s family. One of her daughters was doing a report on Arizona and asked what an example of Arizona food is. My first thought was frybread. I recently discovered Arizona Native Frybread, a small restaurant located at 1437 E Main St in Mesa. The specialty is Navajo frybread – a sweet tortilla like bread that is fried in oil, somewhat like a doughnut but much lighter. It is then topped with various toppings – I always get honey and powdered sugar. It is about 9-10 inches in diameter and excellent. Before I discovered this outlet, I had to either get one at the state fair or somewhere on one of the Indian reservations (last time it was at Cameron on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona). In addition to the frybread, they have various burgers and tacos served on the frybread. This week my wife had the Navajo taco – very good and big enough for two. Owned and operated by native Americans (Navajos , I presume), it is a nice place to visit when in Mesa.
Last fall we went to Schnepf Farms, the last agritourism site left in the Phoenix area. (two others – Duncan Farms and Dugan Dairy and one outside Phoenix – Young Farms in Dewey, ceased operations in the past year or so ). Located Southeast of Phoenix in Queen Creek, Schnepf Farms (www.schnepffarms.com) continues operation as a peach orchard as well as its tourism. Queen Creek used to be a real peach center. Its farmers grew some of the earliest peaches in the country and even used to have them shipped by air to market. Farmland is rapidly disappearing in the area as the fields are sprouting homes instead of potatoes. (Queen Creek was also excellent for potato chip potatoes)
The farm has a big pumpkin festival, and annually creates a huge maze in the cornfield. One year it was in the shape of talk show host Larry King; another year it was in the shape of Arizona Diamondback player Luis Gonzales. It’s a fun place for all but is suited more to the younger child. The part I liked best were the pig races (they also raced goats – they don’t race very well). One of the pig varieties raced is a rare variety which is raised at Schnepf and a couple of other farms in the U.S.
Schnepf Farms has several special events during the year and is not open every day, so be sure to check before driving out. For example, a frost this year cancelled their Peach Festival.
Across the street from Schnepf is the Queen Creek Olive Mill (www.queencreekolivemill.com), the only olive mill in Arizona. While the store is open most days, tour frequency depends on the season. For $5, the tour shows how the olives are turned into olive oil. As you can imagine, it’s not complicated! But it is interesting and the $5 is applied to any purchase of $10 or more. Since we seem to spend over $100 the 3 times we have gone, it is no great burden to spend $10. They recently added a small restaurant but I haven’t been there since it has been opened. There are no pests to the olive in Arizona so all olives are pesticide free. The mill has a small grove of their own and custom mill olives from other growers. The day we first took the tour, they were pressing a ton from a monastery in southern Arizona.
My wife and son visited the Wildlife World Zoo (www.wildlifeworld.com) last fall and I joined them for a return trip a couple of weeks ago. It is a great zoo. Both my wife and I like it better than the Phoenix Zoo which we have been visiting since it opened in the 1960’s. What I liked best about it is: The animals are meant to be seen by the visitors – not hidden in their ‘natural environment’. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t given plenty of room and are stuck in cages like in zoos decades ago. It’s just that with one or two exceptions, the animals were easy to spot. The highlight of the zoo is the baby tigers – Rajah and Nash (named after Phoenix Suns players). Nash is a white tiger. We watched them play for a long time – could have spent an hour and still enjoyed it. A white alligator is also an attraction. There is a skyride that is very nice, giving a good view of the zoo. While we were on the ride, we spotted a bunch of baby warthogs running around. There is a wildlife encounter show three times a day, but we did not see it. You may feed the ducks, fish and GIRAFFES. Nearby is Luke Air Force Base. Sometimes the pilots are practicing takeoffs and landings – fun to watch as you are driving out to the zoo which is in Litchfield Park, about 15 miles west of Phoenix. Credit cards are not accepted (they have an ATM in their store/entrance). We spent a rushed 2 hours at the zoo – 3 to 4 would have been better.
On a recent trip to Oklahoma I visited with my second cousin’s family. One of her daughters was doing a report on Arizona and asked what an example of Arizona food is. My first thought was frybread. I recently discovered Arizona Native Frybread, a small restaurant located at 1437 E Main St in Mesa. The specialty is Navajo frybread – a sweet tortilla like bread that is fried in oil, somewhat like a doughnut but much lighter. It is then topped with various toppings – I always get honey and powdered sugar. It is about 9-10 inches in diameter and excellent. Before I discovered this outlet, I had to either get one at the state fair or somewhere on one of the Indian reservations (last time it was at Cameron on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona). In addition to the frybread, they have various burgers and tacos served on the frybread. This week my wife had the Navajo taco – very good and big enough for two. Owned and operated by native Americans (Navajos , I presume), it is a nice place to visit when in Mesa.
May 29th, 2007, 06:38 PM
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I would second the comments about Schnepf farm and the olive mill.
Now that freeways have opened up to within about 10 miles of these locations, it is not a bad drive to get there.
Although Schnepf farms seems to be operated like an amusement park, it is in fact a working farm.
After 30 years we finally made it out there this spring. The peaches were the seetest that I have ever had. The apricots were excellent too.
You can pick and eat as you go!
The olive mill is also excellent. They have a tasting display of about 10 different stuffed olives and more tampenades. The blue cheese stuffed olives are great!
A fun visit. About 45 miles from North Scottsdale.
The amount of construction in the area is so massive, that you do not want to go during the week, as traffic backs up at 4 way stops.
I would wait for the spring for the peaches!
Now that freeways have opened up to within about 10 miles of these locations, it is not a bad drive to get there.
Although Schnepf farms seems to be operated like an amusement park, it is in fact a working farm.
After 30 years we finally made it out there this spring. The peaches were the seetest that I have ever had. The apricots were excellent too.
You can pick and eat as you go!
The olive mill is also excellent. They have a tasting display of about 10 different stuffed olives and more tampenades. The blue cheese stuffed olives are great!
A fun visit. About 45 miles from North Scottsdale.
The amount of construction in the area is so massive, that you do not want to go during the week, as traffic backs up at 4 way stops.
I would wait for the spring for the peaches!
Mar 29th, 2008, 12:09 PM
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I visited the Olive Mill again this week. They no longer rebate the $5 tour fee if you purchase items. The tour is still worth the $5.
Their restaurant has opened. Mainly sandwiches with lots of olives!
Schnepf Farms cancelled their peach festival last year, but this year they have a great crop and will be holding the festival over 3 upcoming weekends.
About 2 miles east of the Olive Mill is the Pork Shop. When they opened the place years ago, it was really in the boonies - It still is about a mile from anything else. They are a transplanted midwestern butcher shop that specializes in pork products. I was hoping they had some ribs ready to go, but they didn't that day. They did have some other pork ready to eat, Saturday's they sometimes have bratwurst cooked and ready to eat.
I bought some brats to take home and a t-shirt. I had two brats for lunch today and were excellent. In addition to the variety I bought, they have several other sausage varieties.
Now that Ironwood Rd is a divided 4 lane road, Queen Creek is an easy drive from Apache Jct (reachable from US 60 east of Phoenix.)
Their restaurant has opened. Mainly sandwiches with lots of olives!
Schnepf Farms cancelled their peach festival last year, but this year they have a great crop and will be holding the festival over 3 upcoming weekends.
About 2 miles east of the Olive Mill is the Pork Shop. When they opened the place years ago, it was really in the boonies - It still is about a mile from anything else. They are a transplanted midwestern butcher shop that specializes in pork products. I was hoping they had some ribs ready to go, but they didn't that day. They did have some other pork ready to eat, Saturday's they sometimes have bratwurst cooked and ready to eat.
I bought some brats to take home and a t-shirt. I had two brats for lunch today and were excellent. In addition to the variety I bought, they have several other sausage varieties.
Now that Ironwood Rd is a divided 4 lane road, Queen Creek is an easy drive from Apache Jct (reachable from US 60 east of Phoenix.)
Oct 4th, 2009, 08:02 PM
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The Navajo fry bread at the Cameron Trading Post is GREAT!
http://www.camerontradingpost.com/restaurant.html
http://www.camerontradingpost.com/restaurant.html
Jan 5th, 2011, 06:37 AM
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We went back to the Olive Mill just before Christmas. They have expanded the restaurant portion with a very nice outdoor eating area. In addition to the olive products, they have greatly expanded their selection of Arizona grown products.
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