Fun Things To Do In Tempe, Arizona

Why does everything seem to take place at a park in Tempe, AZ?  You’ll see after reading this list of our 5 favorite parks in Tempe, what they have, where they are, what people love to do there and why we are so lucky to have them in our desert home.

• Tempe Beach Park at Tempe Town Lake

Tempe Beach Park volleyball courts

Tempe Town Lake is perfect for a relaxing afternoon picnic and while you relax and enjoy the sun, water and grass your kids can run around like crazy. This outdoor destination is great for bike riding. Don’t have a bike? You can just rent a bike at The Bicycle Cellar.

Really feel like getting away from it all and getting on a boat? You can rent a boat, or a paddle boat and take a cruise out on the lake. And best of all (in my opinion) is the fishing! Tempe Town Lake always has outdoor events going on, so check out their website to keep up to date (or just subscribe to our blog).

Tempe Beach Park is located at: 80 W Rio Salado Pkwy., Tempe, AZ 85281

• Big Surf Fun Water Park

  

  Big Surf Fun in Tempe Arizona

Great spot for preteens and “tweens.” Big Surf Fun isn’t a huge park but it’s packed with lots of sweet water slides and kids have a blast. A good thing about the size of the park not being so big is that you feel safe letting your littler ones run around. Make sure you come prepared, because, like most amusement parks, things cost money.

Big Surf Fun is located at: 1500 N. McClintock Drive, Tempe, AZ 85281

• Papago Park

Great views of what looks like a desert oasis with its large ponds and beautiful Sonoran Desert atmosphere, Papago Park is another great spot to spend the weekend days outside. The iconic photo spot that everyone who visits the Valley of the Sun is at Papago Park. Getting to the spot is pretty accessible-a mini hike away-and you can even take your baby with you to get a shot in the red butte and capture a very “Arizonian” image with a great view of Tempe, Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Papago Park in Tempe Arizona

Papago Park has almost everything when it comes to outdoor activities like:
natural and covered picnic spots, playgrounds, fishing lagoons,
covered BBQ pits, exercise course, baseball fields,
volleyball pits and basketball courts.

Oh, and did I mention hiking trails? If you, or a visitor, want some local hiking trails that are easily accessible, but not at all lacking in Sonoran Desert terrain, Papago Park has them.

West Park Trail is even wheelchair accessible. While you’re there, visit Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo-two great attractions that reside on the grounds of Papago Park.

Papago Park has different entrances, find the one closest to you: [mappress mapid=”20″]

As a rule-of-thumb, the park amenities are open from sunrise to sunset, or 7 p.m., whichever comes first. Trails stay open until 11 p.m.

• Kiwanis Park

  

  Kiwanis Park in Tempe AZ

A beautiful, giant, green park where you can jog, fish in the lake, run and play in the grass, grill out, take a paddle-boat ride and more. But the feature attraction is probably the wave pool, which is located inside the park’s HUGE recreation center where there’s even more stuff to do-indoors.

Kiwanis Park is located at: 5500 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, AZ 85283.

• Mill Avenue

Loads of bars, restaurants, shops and lots to keep your eyes entertained if you want to just stroll around. Mill Ave., is a great tourist location, because it’s very “happening.” We already touched on Mill Ave in our featured Tempe page, but it’s worth making our list because there’s so much outside fun to be had, and, after all, this is our list of fun things to do in Tempe, Arizona.

Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona