etraveladmin Phoenix, like its namesake, did not rise from the ashes to become the United States’ fifth-largest city. Despite being surrounded by soaring peaks and characterised by striking saguaros, the ever-growing city has yet to become a top-of-mind tourist attraction, particularly for foreign visitors.
1. Mount Camelback
Phoenix, Arizona, is located in the Sonoran Desert and offers a unique blend of urban attractions and outdoor activities. Camelback Mountain’s summit offers breathtaking views of Phoenix and Scottsdale. It’s no surprise that hikers, walkers, and cyclists flock to it. My plans to hike the 2,704-foot high summit were thwarted by the scorching dry heat of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
2.Garden of the Desert
Having visited some of the world’s best Botanical Gardens, this garden was a pleasant surprise. Before visiting, I would have laughed out loud if someone told me there was a sprawling 50-acre oasis in the desert called Papago Park. Flora is the last thing you’d expect to find in a desert. It’s no surprise that the Sonoran Desert is known as the “blooming desert.” Thousands of cacti, trees, and flowers from all over the world can be found at the Desert Botanical Garden.
3. McDowell Mountain Fort
Growing up on a steady diet of Wild West movies, it was my childhood dream to spend some time with the Southwest Cowboys and their stables. And nothing beats the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, a 950-member Native American tribe that lives in Central Arizona’s upper Sonoran Desert. The 40-square-mile reservation, located northeast of Phoenix in Maricopa County, Arizona, is a small part of the ancestral territory of the once nomadic Yavapai people, who hunted and gathered food in a vast area of Arizona’s desert lowlands and mountainous Mogollon Rim country.
4. The Heard Museum
A visit to Phoenix would be incomplete without a stop at the internationally acclaimed Heard Museum. It is one of the best places to learn about the diverse cultures and art of the Southwest’s American Indians. That explains why it receives 200,000 visitors per year. The museum’s cutting-edge programmes, world-class exhibitions, and unrivalled festivals make it the ideal location for learning about American Indian art and history. It was fascinating to see its vast collection of Native American artefacts and listen to docents explain how native peoples survived in the harsh desert environment.
