PARKS AND OPEN SPACE

  
At Tempe Town Lake there are many park areas to explore. The original designs and ease of use at the parks of Tempe Town Lake make them some of the most popular venues in Arizona. Tempe Town Lake draws 2.5 million visitors annually for fishing, jogging, boating, bicycling, signature events and picnics. The parks are free to use for individuals and may be rented for special occasions.

Tempe Beach Park at Tempe Town LakeTempe Beach Park
The crown jewel of the park areas at Tempe Town Lake is Beach Park, originally built in 1931 and completely renovated in 1999 as part of the construction of the lake. The 25-acre park has been the historical central park for Tempe since the 1920's. Nearly every weekend park visitors can participate in a 10K run, watch a concert or take part in a community festival. For a list of events coming to the lake click on Tempe Events Calendar. 

Located in Tempe Beach Park, Cox Splash Playground is a FREE water park that lets kids safely get wet in the warmer months of the year. While Rio Lago Cruise Company operates boat tours from the park. For more information about boat tours call (480) 517-4050.


For information about reserving picnic tables in Tempe Beach Park go to picnic table reservations or call (480) 350-8625.
 
Linear Park Path
 Both a packed earth and paved sidewalk line both sides of Tempe Town Lake. These twin pathways, connected by the Mill Avenue, Rural Road and Priest Road bridges, enable pedestrians and cyclists to make their way around Town Lake.
 
Giuliano Park at Tempe Town LakeGiuliano Park
From Rural Road to the Mill Avenue Bridge, this stretch of the south shore of Tempe Town Lake is dedicated to former Mayor Neil Giuliano. It features a small amphitheater, picnic areas and a boat dock designed to enable those with physical challenges.



 
Water Muse at Tempe Town Lake MarinaSRP Town Lake Marina
 The 13-acre SRP Town Lake Marina is located on the north side of Tempe Town Lake south of Loop 202 at College Avenue. The marina offers a 5-lane boat launch ramp, a safe harbor for City boats, a large grassy amphitheater for picnics, and quiet times.



 
Mesquite Bosque and Ruins
 LoPiano Mesquite Bosque has developed into a habitat that supports lizards, snakes, quail, doves, roadrunners, jack rabbits, cottontails, falcons and coyotes as well as a tremendous variety of birds. The 13-acre bosque habitat stretches along the north side of Loop 202 between College and Mill Avenues. Nearby prehistoric Hohokam Indians lived in the Salt River Valley in homes on both sides of the river. An example of their dwellings may be found at the archeological site "Loma del Rio" at the west end of Papago Park.

OPEN SPACE/HABITATS
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Tempe have combined resources to restore portions of the Salt riverbed to their natural state, making them once again attractive to wildlife and to those who like to observe nature. Three Tempe sites have been identified, they are Indian Bend Wash Habitat, Salt River Downstream Habitat, and Salt River Upstream Habitat.
 

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.