Hole in the Rock in Papago Park, Phoenix. Arizona

Amazing scenery with mountains of various shapes and sizes in Arizona

Since we arrived to Phoenix a few days ago, we noticed the city has many interesting looking scenery with mountains of various shapes and sizes.



There are many trails within city limits where the inhabitants of Phoenix can enjoy.

Hole-in-the-Rock, Phoenix, Arizona

However, there is one that we are very intrigued by - the mountain with a hole in it.

We have gazed at it numerous times and we decided to walk this trail and explore this interesting landmark of Phoenix. The Hole in the Rock is located in the Papago Park, 626 N. Galvin Parkway.

It is a beautiful park with the Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix Zoo and the Rock in the Hole all in the same area within walking distance of one another.

In fact, we wished we were staying right in Tempe, the downtown area of Phoenix, which would have made it easier for us to see these attractions within short public transit and driving distance.

PaPago Park is a beautiful park accessible from downtown Phoenix

Unfortunately, not knowing the distances of these great attractions, we unwittingly booked ourselves in the city's north suburb area. We stayed at one of the nice hotels, paid much more but ended up about 30-4 40 km away from many interesting places we wished to visit.

If you are visiting Phoenix for the first time, I highly recommend staying in any of the hotel/ motels close to the university/ downtown area.  After two days, we moved to Motel 6, one of the downtown motels and it cost only $40.00 a night and much closer to everything and convenient.

Looking down from the Hole-in-the-Rock

There were ample parking spaces at the Papago Park on the day we went.

The park offers a number of trails catering to various hiking abilities.

It has a number of shelters throughout the park to offer hikers/ walkers protection from the element and a place to rest and to have a picnic.

The hike up to the Hole in the Rock was easy and not strenuous at all. However, one needs to be careful and have proper running or hiking shoes as the trail could be slippery at times.

Great scenery from the top of Hole -in-the-Rock, Papago Park

It was great to see grandparents taking their grandchildren and young families encouraging their youngsters to climb up and take a seat on the ancient rocks.

The view from the top of the Hole in the Rock was breathtaking!

The hike only took us about fifteen to twenty minutes, much shorter than we thought. The view from the top was awesome! This must have been one of Phoenix's popular lovers' lanes as we had to wait for our turn for two young couples to finish their quiet conversations before we could get some good shots of the scenery.

It is a great place to visit for families and for people who are not too athletic like us. The best part :
Free parking and free admission walking up to the Hole in the Rock!

Nice to get some fresh air, great exercises and good scenery of the city for free!


R.T.
Hole-in-the-Rock, Papago Park
Phoenix, Arizona