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PARKS |
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At Tempe Town Lake there are many park areas to explore. The
crown jewel is
Tempe Beach Park, originally built in 1931, was completely renovated in 1999 as
part of the construction of Town Lake. Its proximity to
the Mill Avenue District, Sky Harbor Airport, ASU, and the freeway system, it is
geographically designed to host large crowds.
Other parks located around the lake are the Papago Park, Arts Park, Giuliano Park, North Bank
Linear Park, Marina, and Playa del Norte Park.
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Tempe Beach Park
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The 25-acre park connects to 5 miles of multi-use paths for bicycling, jogging
or in-line skating that circle the lake. Nearly every
weekend at Tempe Beach Park visitors can participate in a 10K run, watch a concert or take part in a
community festival. To find out what events are coming to Town Lake go to
Tempe Events
Calendar.
In this park you
will find the innovative, $1.3 million
Splash
Playground that lets kids safely get wet in the warmer
months of the year. You will also
find the Rio Lago Cruise Company
operating boat rentals and tours on Town Lake.
Call (480) 517-4050 or go to
www.riolagocruise.com for more information.
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Picnic Table Reservations
Town Lake picnic tables can be reserved in Tempe Beach Park,
the Marina, and Playa del Norte Park. You can
reserve a picnic table 90 days in advance of the date you want. Picnic
table rental costs are:
Tempe Residents - $10 per table
Non-Tempe Residents - $15 per table
Beer Permits (Tempe residents only) - $5
Click on
Tempe Beach Park Picnic Tables for a map showing the tables
numbered 1 through 6 that can be reserved.
The picnic table reservation can be
made over the phone two weeks or more in advance and paid by a major credit
card. If under two weeks you can go to the Rio Salado Operations Center at 620
N. Mill Ave. to reserve a table. Tempe residents will need to show two
proofs of residency, one a picture ID (i.e. driver's license) and the second a
current utility bill, both need your name and Tempe address on them.
In Tempe Beach Park there is a large blue shaded ramada with 10 picnic tables
underneath that are "first come first serve" and cannot be reserved.
You can also bring your
own table, chairs, barbeque, and pop-up shade into the park. For more information
call
the Town Lake Operations Center at (480) 350-8625.
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Volleyball Court Reservations
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You can reserve volleyball courts at Tempe Town Lake. Four courts
are located on the north bank of the lake just east of Mill Avenue. The cost to
reserve a volleyball court is $10 for a 2-hour block of time. For more
information call the Rio Salado Operations Center at (480) 350-8625. |
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Papago Park
Papago Park is a historically and environmentally
significant area that has attracted people from as early as 400 A.D. At that
time, the Salt River raged through the metropolitan Phoenix area, providing
water for agriculture. It later became a national monument similar to Saguaro
National Monument because of the significant numbers of saguaro cacti lining the
rock formations. This distinction was removed from the park in the 1930's, when
the saguaros mysteriously disappeared (possibly due to surrounding development
pilfering the area for landscaping).
The park remains the only de-commissioned national
monument in the country. For the past 100 years, however, people have enjoyed
the geography of the water-sculpted rocks. The park is owned and operated by two
different municipalities: Phoenix, which operates 1,200 acres and Tempe, which
controls 296 acres. Each offers different recreational amenities. Phoenix offers
a archery shooting range, exercise course, nature trail, orienteering course and
sports complex while Tempe provides a softball field, Frisbee golf course,
lagoon, natural trail and playground.
The rocks in Papago Park are red - very different from
those on Hayden Butte across the river. Approximately 19 million years ago,
volcanoes formed the lava material of Tempe Butte known as Igneous Rock.
Geologic forces, such as earthquakes, broke up the land forcing it apart, and
pushing some bedrock down and other bedrock up at sharp angles, forming valleys
and mountains. As the mountains eroded, the softer rock washed into the valley,
building up to 10,000 feet of sediment in the metropolitan area.
Hayden Butte, Papago Buttes and Camelback Mountain are
peaks or ranges that continue to weather and erode. As material fills
in at the base, it forms a protective skirt of shallow rock known as a pediment.
Papago Buttes is known as Papago Park Pediment, and extends from the north side
of the Salt River to Thomas Road, from Pueblo Grande Ruins on the west and the
Arizona Historical Society Museum on the East. Hayden Butte lies at the south
end of the Pediment, separated by the Salt River.
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