Tanque Verde, AZ Outdoor Activities

Explore the different sections of this expansive, historic park, which boasts three museums and an array of wildlife, such as the Collared Peccary and the wily Coatimundi. With unlimited park use for up to six people and free access to museums, picnic areas, and campgrounds, nature lovers will find ample opportunity for escaping the throngs of city living. Bounce into the vibrantly colored Butterfly Garden, or pay a visit to the La Posta Quemada Ranch’s two desert tortoises to ask how many licks it takes to get to the center of a stalagmite. Though not included in today's deal, visitors can venture into the Colossal Cave, a system of underground "dry" caves, with miles of subterranean passages (tours starting at $11 for adults).

With a wealth of activities to while away the days beneath the Arizona sun, Triangle T Guest Ranch gives its visitors ample opportunity to relax amid beautiful southwestern scenery. The ranch sits among the foothills of the Dragoon Mountains at an elevation of 4,500 feet, ensuring comfortable temperatures for year-round horseback-riding programs, hiking, and jeep tours over its 160 acres.

For trail rides, the ranch's wranglers lead groups of explorers on horseback across diverse terrain from grassy hills to steep, rocky traverses that change every few minutes of the tour, offering riders plenty of opportunities for pictures and fresh inspiration for haikus. While riders negotiate twists and turns and marvel at the many intricate boulder formations along the way, their guides expound upon the ranch's long and storied history, from the first visits by Apache chieftains up through its 20th-century use by diplomats, writers, and entertainers including JFK and John Wayne. After their ride, participants can recount the memorable scenery and near run-ins with outlaws at The Rock Saloon and Grill, famous for the giant boulder behind the bar.

Amid cacti and brush, beneath milk-white clouds, Cocoraque Trail Ranch & Pavillion's sprawling desert scenery makes it impossible to discern whether it's 1890 or the twenty-first century—and it hardly matters. Wranglers and ranch hands still work as they did more than a century ago when Señor Benito Robles homesteaded the rustic ranch. Today, Tucson native and third-generation cattle rancher Jesus Arvizu is at the helm. Under his guidance, ranch hands rise before sun up to shoe and groom horses, mend fences, and film commercials for blue jeans.

Upon arrival to the 16,000-acre ranch, visitors step into the time of cowboys and cattle. A red-dobe ranch house built in the 1890s facilitates cookouts with a mesquite-fired grill and an adjacent picnic area. Aspirant riders can team up with seasoned wranglers and ranch hands to participate in genuine cattle drives, herding livestock in their signature "V" formation. For large-scale old-timey gatherings, the ranch's open-air pavilion accommodates weddings, birthdays, and parties with a saloon-style bar, a covered eating area, a dance floor, and a bonfire pit.

As the sun sinks below the Santa Rita Mountains, towering shade trees and adobe haciendas cast long shadows across Agua Linda Farm’s 63 acres. Over the years, this idyllic farm has nabbed attention from the press as well as visits from celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor and John Wayne, who may have played hide-and-seek amid the rows of organic vegetables and flowers. In addition to a focus on sustainable agriculture, the farm strives to serve as a community hub. Farmsteaders Stewart and Laurel Loew host dinners, weddings, and scarecrow support groups in the adobe hacienda, and spark the imaginations of young horticulturists with family-centric spring and fall harvest festivals.

Phoenix Area Skydiving’s professional staff specializes in training and instilling confidence in first-time skydivers. They accompany these novices into compact aircraft for up to 120-mile-per-hour tandem free falls over the expansive Arizona desert landscape. Once up in the air, they field visitors’ questions about flight mechanics and often let them control the parachute, granting a more effective hands-on skydiving experience than wrestling with a ceiling fan. They also prepare visitors for solo flights with an accelerated free-fall program, and safeguard each diver’s safety with a technique briefing and gear check before every flight.