|
|
The Fabulous Park at Papgo (Clink on thumbnail for full image).
There are three words that come to mind when I think of Papago Park: beautiful, interesting and convinient. This small area in the very center of the valley, at the junction of three cities (Tempe, Phoenix and Scottsdale) is among the most scenic places in the Sororan desert. The combination of red colored exotic rock formations against the deep tan desert and green cacti and palo verdes, also contrasting with the blue lakes and shy, is simply awesome.
Hole-in-the-Rock.
Even as a child, Papago park was one of my favorite places. Perhaps the most famous spot is the Hole-in-the-Rock mountain, overlooking Phoenix. This well known landmark appears in the eariest photographs of Phoenix. Even in the late 1800s famalies would ride out to the Papago park area for picnics.
This is a cool link to a satellite image map of the Papago Park area from Google: 
. You can move the scroll and move the map with your mouse (hold down the mouse button) and well as zoom in and out. The map link is centered on the Hold-in-the-Rock hill (Image here: 
).
As far as this site is concerned, the Papago area is divided into three parts: 1. the park itself, with the zoo and botanical garden included; 2- The military reservation, home of several different branches of the armed forces; and 3. two residential areas that are among the nicest in the Valley of the Sun - the Sherwood Heights neighborhood and the I-don't-know-the-name-of-it area just above the historical society in Tempe.
