Vail, 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.

In addition to her regular flight preparations, Foolish Pleasure Hot Air Balloon Rides’ co-owner Lorrie Ewer sometimes checks off a second midflight list: whether or not her passengers take each other, to have and to hold, for as long as they both shall live. As an ordained officiant, she can legally conduct marriage ceremonies beneath the teal, pink, and cerulean balloon that she and her husband, Dan, initially bought to fly for pleasure but have since turned into a thriving business.

The Ewers shuttle passengers over the area’s most scenic vistas, such as the Tucson Mountains, Avra Valley, and Saguaro National Park, many of which boast views of local wildlife. After the flight, guests eat a continental breakfast and sip champagne as Lorrie and Dan email each person a set of photos taken during the trip, plus the phone number of the cloud that stole their heart.

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.

Colorful handholds dot the artificial mountain range rising from the floors of Rocks & Ropes and The Bloc climbing + fitness’s 20,000-square-foot facility. Walls twist, turn, and arc into cave-like overhangs and swollen cliff sides, at the bases of which belayers heft students to new heights.

The Bloc climbing + fitness

A partner gym of Rocks & Ropes, The Bloc climbing + fitness is a 20,000 square-foot, air-conditioned rock-climbing destination. Inside, a dozen autobelays allow visitors to make high, harness-assisted ascents. Or, you can test your bouldering skills on a 7,000 square-foot wall. In addition, the gym offers yoga, meditation, and pilates classes in its 2nd-story heartSTONE studio, welcoming both beginners and experts. The gym also includes cardio and weight equipment for those looking for a vigorous exercise or a heart-to-heart talk with a treadmill.