Attractions

The Desert & Its Native Cultures

Although the Sears-Kay Ruins 15 miles northeast of Cave Creek have never been restored and are, in fact, in ruins, they are close enough to north Scottsdale to be worth searching out. They're also just far enough away to feel like a real discovery. It's an easy 1-mile round-trip hike to this hilltop Hohokam pueblo ruin, and along the way, interpretive plaques explain aspects of Hohokam culture. The pueblo, which dates to between 1050 and 1500, consisted of 40 rooms in four compounds. To find the ruins, head northeast from Carefree on Cave Creek Road, which becomes first Seven Springs Road and then Forest Service Road 24. For more information, contact the Tonto National Forest's Cave Creek Ranger District, 40202 N. Cave Creek Rd., Scottsdale (tel. 480/595-3300; www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/home).

On the south side of the Superstition Mountains, near the Gold Canyon Resort, a relatively short hike will lead you to a small canyon where ancient petroglyphs cover a rock wall beside several pools of water. Known as Hieroglyphic Canyon, this rock-art site is reached via a 1.1-mile trail up a gentle slope through dense stands of cactus. To reach the trailhead, drive east from Phoenix on U.S. 60 to Gold Canyon. Turn north on King's Ranch Road and follow this road to a right turn onto Baseline Road. Then turn left on Mohican Road, left again on Valley View Drive, and right on Cloudview Avenue, which leads into the trailhead parking lot.

Show Up Now for Savings

If your Phoenix vacation plans include museum-hopping and you're good at planning a day's sightseeing, you should consider buying a Show Up Now Pass (tel. 602/971-2223; www.showupnowpass.com). These passes provide discounts on admissions to numerous attractions around the Valley of the Sun and come in 3-attraction passes ($24 adults, $9 children ages 3-12) and 14-attraction passes ($50 adults, $26 children), both of which are good for 9 days.

Native Trails in Scottsdale

The sound of drumming coming from the Scottsdale Mall is insistent and irresistible, and if you happen to be shopping in Old Town Scottsdale and hear that drumming, be sure to follow the sound to its source. On a stage in front of the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, you'll find members of several Native American tribes performing traditional songs and dances. The show is a cross-cultural journey and is a great way to learn a bit about a few Native cultures. The free programs, called Native Trails, are held January through early April on most Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays between noon and 1:30pm, and are part of the Culture Quest Scottsdale (tel. 480/421-1004; www.culturequestscottsdale.com) program, which includes a variety of seasonal programming geared toward tourists.

Carefree Living

Carefree, a planned community established in the 1950s and popular with retirees, is much more subdued than its neighbor Cave Creek, which effects a sort of Wild West character. Ho Hum Road and Easy Street are just two local street names that reflect the sedate nature of Carefree, which is home to the Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa. This resort boasts a spectacular setting, a 33,000-square-foot spa, and a couple of excellent restaurants. On Easy Street, in what passes for Carefree's downtown, you'll find one of the world's largest sundials. The dial is 90 feet across, and the gnomon (the part that casts the shadow) is 35 feet tall. In the middle of the dial are a pool of water and a fountain. Also downtown is a sort of reproduction Spanish-village shopping area, and just south of town, adjacent to the Boulders, is the upscale el Pedregal shopping center, with interesting boutiques, galleries, and a few restaurants.

Top Gun

Ever wanted to be a fighter pilot? Well, at Fighter Combat International (tel. 866/FLY-HARD or 480/279-1881; www.fightercombat.com) you can find out if you've got the right stuff. This company, which operates out of the Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, offers a variety of exciting aerobatic flights, including mock dogfights. Best of all, on some flights, you get to learn how to do loops, rolls, spins, and other aerobatic moves. Flights start at $469; for a mock air-combat mission, you'll have to shell out $729.