24 Best Sights in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe, Arizona

Opened in 1939 to conserve and showcase the ecology of the desert, these 150 acres contain more than 4,000 different species of cacti, succulents, trees, and flowers. A stroll along the ½-mile "Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert" trail is a fascinating lesson in environmental adaptations. Kid-centric activity areas encourage tactile play and exploration. Specialized tours are available at an extra cost; check online for times and prices. The Desert Botanical Garden stays open late, to 8 pm year-round, and it's particularly lovely when lighted by the setting sun or by moonlight. You can plan for a cool, late visit after a full day of activities.

Pioneer settlers Dwight and Maie Heard built a Spanish colonial–style building on their property to house their collection of Southwestern art. Today the staggering collection includes such exhibits as a Navajo hogan dwelling and rooms filled with art, pottery, jewelry, kachinas, and textiles. The Heard also actively supports contemporary Native American artists and displays their work. Annual events include the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest in February and the Indian Fair & Market in March. Children enjoy the interactive art-making exhibits. The museum also has an incredible gift shop with authentic, high-quality goods purchased directly from Native American artists.

A fun destination for even casual music fans, the museum offers a rare display of music and instruments going back hundreds of years—including more than 15,000 instruments and artifacts from across the globe. Special galleries highlight video demonstrations as well as audio tracks that showcase the sounds that instruments, both primitive and contemporary, create. There's even an Experience Gallery where kids can make their own music.

Kids young and old get a thrill out of the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the state. You can also pan for gold and see changing exhibits from around the world.

With more than 300 hands-on exhibits, this is the venue for science-related exploration. You can pilot a simulated airplane flight, travel through the human body, navigate your way through the solar system in the Dorrance Planetarium, and watch a movie in a giant, five-story IMAX theater.

The largest butterfly pavilion in the United States gives kids (and their parents) a close-up view of thousands of butterflies in a temperature-controlled rain forest environment. You should also make time to check out the honeybee exhibit and the 3-D theater.

A playground for kids of all ages, this museum features hands-on exhibits where children learn by playing. Venture through the "noodle forest," relax in the book loft, or get a crash course in economics by role-playing at the on-site market.

Any visit to Arizona requires a viewing of petroglyphs, and this site provides the best glimpse in the metro Phoenix area. Some 1,500 of the cryptic symbols are here, left behind by Native American cultures that lived in or passed through the Valley during the last 1,000 years. The self-guided tour follows a ¼-mile path and includes a free audio guide. Telescopes point to some of the most skillful petroglyphs, ranging from animal forms to abstract figures.

One of the best collections of Western art in the nation includes paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington, Albert Bierstadt, and others. The museum has an extensive historic photography collection, and is leading an oral history project to capture the stories of the area's longtime residents.

Urban Encanto (Spanish for "enchanted") Park covers 222 acres at the heart of one of Phoenix's oldest residential neighborhoods. There are many attractions, including picnic areas, a lagoon where you can paddleboat and canoe, a municipal swimming pool, a nature trail, Enchanted Island amusement park, fishing in the park's lake, and two public golf courses.

The pseudo-Western Frontier Town has wooden sidewalks, ramshackle buildings, and souvenir shops.

Goldfield became an instant town of about 4,000 residents after a gold strike in 1892; it dried up five years later when the gold mine flooded. Today the Goldfield Ghost Town is an interesting place to grab a cool drink, pan for gold, go for a mine tour, or take a desert jeep ride or horseback tour of the area. The ghost town's shops and saloon are open daily and gunfights are held on weekends.

Retired firefighters lead tours through nearly 100 restored fire engines and tell harrowing tales of the "world's most dangerous profession." The museum has the world's largest collection of firefighting equipment, and children can climb on a 1916 engine, operate alarm systems, and learn fire safety from the pros. Helmets, badges, and other firefighting-related articles from as far back as 1725 are on display.

Imagine thousands of square feet full of LEGO bricks, and not having to clean up any of them. No, it's not a dream---it's LEGOLAND. Kids can see giant LEGO creations as well as play, build, and watch. Buy a dual ticket with the adjoining Sea Life Arizona Aquarium and save on admission.

At the foot of South Mountain lies a curious dwelling built from desert rocks by Boyce Gulley, who came to Arizona to cure his tuberculosis. Full of fascinating oddities, the castle has 18 rooms with 13 fireplaces, a downstairs grotto tavern, and a quirky collection of Southwestern antiques. The pump organ belonged to Elsie, the "Widow of Tombstone," who buried six husbands under suspicious circumstances.

An amalgam of hilly desert terrain, streams, and lagoons, this park has picnic ramadas (shaded, open-air shelters), a golf course, a playground, hiking and biking trails, and even largemouth bass and trout fishing. (An urban fishing license is required for anglers ages 15 and over. Visit for more information.) The hike up to landmark Hole-in-the-Rock—a natural observatory used by the native Hohokam to devise a calendar system—is steep and rocky, and a much easier climb up than down. Governor Hunt's Tomb, the white pyramid at the top of Ramada 16, commemorates the former Arizona leader and provides a lovely view.

This museum is one of the most visually appealing pieces of architecture in the Southwest. Basking in natural light, the museum makes great use of its modern, open space by tastefully fitting more than 17,000 works of art from around the world—including sculptures by Frederic Remington and paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe, Thomas Moran, and Maxfield Parrish—within its soaring concrete walls. The museum hosts more than 20 significant exhibitions annually and has one of the most acclaimed fashion collections in the country.

Four designated trails wind through this 125-acre zoo, replicating such habitats as an African savanna and a tropical rain forest. Meerkats, warthogs, desert bighorn sheep, and the endangered Arabian oryx are among the species here. The zoo is full of interactive stops for kids of all sizes. Harmony Farm introduces youngsters to small mammals, and a stop at the Big Red Barn petting zoo provides a chance to interact with goats, cows, and more. In December the zoo stays open late (until 10) for the popular ZooLights exhibit, which transforms the area into an enchanted forest of more than 225 million twinkling lights, many in the shape of the zoo's residents. Starry Safari Friday Nights in summer are fun, too.

This open-air museum features original and reconstructed buildings from throughout territorial Arizona. Costumed guides filter through the bank, schoolhouse, jail, and print shop, as well as the Pioneer Opera House, where classic melodramas are performed daily. It's popular with the grade-school field-trip set, and it's your lucky day if you can tag along for their tour of the site.

Phoenix's only national landmark, this park was once the site of a 500-acre Hohokam village supporting about 1,000 people and containing homes, storage rooms, cemeteries, and ball courts. Three exhibition galleries hold displays on the Hohokam culture and archaeological methods. View the 10-minute orientation video before heading out on the ½-mile Ruin Trail past excavated sites that give a hint of Hohokam savvy: there's a building whose corner doorway was perfectly placed for watching the summer-solstice sunrise. Children especially like the hands-on interactive learning center. Guided tours by appointment only.

Unpreserved in the middle of the city for years, this amazing, 6-acre historic site, formerly called "Mesa Grande Cultural Park," features a group of Hohokam structures dating to 1400–1100 BC. Once protected only by locals and the occasional landowner, it's now operated by the Arizona Museum of Natural History and was recently rechristened with a new name in the O'odham language, which means "Blue Fly's place of dwelling."

Some 5,000 creatures including sharks, stingrays, eels, and a giant octopus call this underwater menagerie home. A 165,000-gallon tank with a 360-degree viewing tunnel is the first of its kind. Who says there's no water in the desert? Buy a dual ticket with the adjoining LEGOLAND Discovery Center and save on admission.

The best place to learn about the "Dutchman" Jacob Waltz and the Lost Dutchman Mine is at Superstition Mountain Museum. Exhibits include a collection of mining tools, historical maps, and artifacts relating to the "gold" age of the Superstition Mountains.

The human-made Town Lake has turned downtown Tempe into a commercial and urban-living hot spot, and attracts college students and Valley residents of all ages. Little ones enjoy the Beach Park, and fishermen appreciate the rainbow trout–stocked lake. You also can rent a boat and tour the lake on your own.