Scottsdale, A Perfect Destination for a Family Vacation

Scottsdale, A Perfect Destination for a Family Vacation
And we're talking the whole family, including your favorite four-legged friends, who can unwind after a long day of boutique shopping and frolicking at the park with gourmet treats and a plush bed of their own.

Most important, Scottsdale is a place where kids can be kids and parents can be big kids. Revel in rough and tumble dune buggy adventures and safari wildlife tours (javelinas, coyotes and snakes, oh my!). Soak in Scottsdale's stunning Sonoran Desert from atop a soaring hot air balloon or while riding on horseback! Discover living history with Native American hoop dancers and staged Wild West shootouts; or explore exotic wildlife such as venomous Gila monsters and carnivorous Roadrunners. In short, Scottsdale takes its family fun very seriously.

ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET FOR FAMILIES

Family friendly is a term that gets bandied about quite a bit these days. At these Scottsdale resorts, however, kids are more than just welcome, they're given the royal treatment.

Named after frequent visitor and 1950s TV star, William Boyd (a.k.a. Hopalong Cassidy), the JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa's (www.camelbackinn.com) Hopalong College is a seasonal program offering educational and recreational kids programs such as arts and crafts, tennis and other outdoor fun. Not to mention campfire cookouts at this mountainside resort's Old West town featuring a saloon, livery stable, mercantile and other mock storefronts. At the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess'
(www.scottsdaleprincess.com) Kids Club, young'un's partake in exciting organized activities such as scavenger hunts, swimming and lagoon fishing programs. Teens, meanwhile, are given their own Hang Out area featuring DVDs, Xbox consoles and a cyber cafe for checking email or on-line chatting. For those kids keen on the outdoors, the National Geographic Explorers Camp brings the fantasy of wild safaris and animal exploration to life with National Geographic experts during the summer months. This fun-filled program equips children ages 5 to 12 with GPS devices for a resort-wide treasure hunt, teaches them the basics of point-and-shoot digital photography through real-life assignments and transports campers to far-away places by exploring giant 26-foot by 35-foot maps of the world's continents.

Camp Hyatt Kachina at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch (www.scottsdale.hyatt.com) teaches campers about the area's unique flora, fauna and culture with activities including Navajo and Hopi beadworking, Southwestern sand art and visits by Native American dancers and cowboy storytellers. The Phoenician (www.thephoenician.com) offers a treasure trove of family fun, including organized endeavors at the Funician's Kids Club and complimentary activities like fish feeding at Necklace Lake Lagoon, fireside s'mores, badminton and croquet. There's also an Explorers Activity Center featuring Ping-Pong, Nintendo Wii consoles and a theater where children and grown-ups alike can watch movies at their leisure.

Family fun abounds at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa (www.kierlandresort.com) with the director of fun kicking off family vacations with a kid-friendly check-in area called the Kierland Mining Co. and continuing with poolside activities such as hula hoop, limbo and relay races, and evening fun including pajama parties and Kierland Kampfires 'round the fire pit. At the seasonal Digital Kids Zone, families create their very own music videos incorporating personal photos and make-your-own songs into supplied footage from the resort, creating a unique keepsake to remind families of their Scottsdale vacation. The Montelucia Resort & Spa's (www.icmontelucia.com) Planet Trekkers Kids Club is an interactive day camp that offers arts and crafts, a bouncy house, archery, gelato tastings and more. Kids can hang out at the Club while mom and dad dine at the resort, rejuvenate at the spa or relax by the pool.

CULTURE CLUB

Between exploring prehistoric Indian ruins and slicing though the air inside a rumbling WWII bomber, who knew learning could be so much fun?

Arizona State University's Kerr Cultural Center (www.asukerr.com) presents family oriented theatrical events and student-led musical ensembles inside a quaint recital hall built from natural adobe bricks made and dried on property. Discover 1,500-year-old Hohokam Indian ruins and full-scale reproductions of prehistoric homes created by Arizona's original adobe builders at the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park (www.pueblogrande.com). Founded in 1929, the Heard Museum and Heard Museum North Scottsdale (www.heard.org) offer a world-renowned collection of American Indian cultural art and fine art, unique exhibits and special events – headlined by the annual World Championship Hoop Dance Contest, a drum-filled affair where intricately costumed American Indians from across North America come to compete.

Guests at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort, meanwhile, needn't even leave the property to explore Scottsdale's deep cultural roots. Home to an award-winning Native American and Environmental Learning Center, visitors learn about Scottsdale's native Hopi Indians through art, jewelry, textiles, pottery and Katsinam (plural form of Katsina), as well as take interpretive tours through the Native Heritage Seed Garden and its 30 varieties of indigenous plants.

Back in downtown, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA, www.smoca.org) offers eye-grabbing exhibitions sure to hold the attention of even the youngest patrons, as well as free admissions on Thursday, when the museum stays open late to offer everything from guest lectures to hands-on art demonstrations. SMoCA's new and improved Young@Art gallery opened in spring 2009 at the adjacent Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (www.sccarts.org) and features the work of students and other aspiring artists. And don't forget to check out Native Trails (www.scottsdalenativetrails.com), produced by the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, a free series of Native American dance performances presented every January through April at the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall.

GO WILD

In a setting as splendid (and accessible) as Scottsdale's Sonoran Desert, outdoor adventure is at the top of every family's to-do list. Offering nearly 20,000 acres of hiking, biking and outdoorsy fun right in the heart of Scottsdale, the McDowell Mountain Regional Park is a must see. Nestled amidst Papago Park's rolling red buttes, the Desert Botanical Garden (www.dbg.org) is home to five thematic trails illustrating everything from how desert plants are used for nourishment and tools to the blooming beauty of desert wildflowers.

Put civilization in your rearview mirror when you hop aboard a Jeep or Hummer tour for a rousing off-road adventure. Led by professional drivers well-versed in the area's adventurous history and native wildlife, riders can extend their adventure with visits to abandoned mining encampments, Native American ruins or even a ropin' demonstration followed by a campfire cookout. True thrill seekers, meanwhile, will want to slide behind the wheel of one of Desert Wolf Tours' (www.desertwolftours.com) u-drive Tomcar tours. These rugged two-seaters require only 10 minutes of instruction before drivers 18 and older scamper off on a follow-the-leader journey into the wilds of Scottsdale's desert outskirts.

Animal action awaits at Out of Africa Wildlife Park (www.outofafricapark.com) in neighboring Camp Verde, Ariz., where visitors are whisked away in traditional safari vehicles for an authentic African photo safari as experienced guides navigate the tour through the Serengeti-like expanse populated with some 400 wild animals, including lions, tigers, rhinoceros, hyenas, javelina, wolves, giraffes, wildebeests and zebras. It wouldn't be a real safari without up-close animal interaction, so guests can treat zebra and ostrich to tasty snacks and may even be greeted by a giraffe with a gentle kiss. Be sure to catch Africa's big cats in action at Tiger Splash where Bengals and Siberians romp, play, and of course, splash in a pool with brightly colored balloons, animal-shaped pool toys, and their experienced trainers who teach visitors about their striped friends' instincts, intellect and natural behavior.

ALL ABOARD

Longtime family favorite, Scottsdale's McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park (www.therailroadpark.com) features a carousel, railroad-themed exhibits and a small-scale steam train chugging passengers around a mile-long track. For those looking to ride the real thing, Northern Arizona offers two historic train adventures: a stunning tour though Arizona's mountainous Bald Eagle country on the Verde Canyon Railroad (www.verdecanyonrr.com), and the stately Grand Canyon Railway (www.thetrain.com), which has been delivering passengers right to the rim of this natural wonder since 1901.

KID-FRIENDLY FARE

Now that you've worked up an appetite, why not herd them doggies over to a charming, cowboy-themed chophouse such as the sprawling Rawhide Western Town & Steakhouse at Wild Horse Pass (www.rawhide.com) in Chandler, Ariz. or Scottsdale's historic Reata Pass Steakhouse (www.reatapass.com)? Finish it off with old-timey fun at the Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant (www.sugarbowlscottsdale.com), a 52-year-old parlor dishing up classic diner eats alongside sundaes, splits, sodas, parfaits, shakes, malts, floats … need we go on?

HITTING FROM THE KIDS' TEE

Kierland Golf Club (www.kierlandgolf.com) rolled out a family golf program where young aspiring pros learn the fundamentals of putting, chipping and full swings, as well golf etiquette, rules and history of the game. Next, these diminutive duffers take on one of the club's three nine-hole courses decked out with junior tees to make the course more playable for younger golfers. The Family Tee program at TPC Scottsdale's (www.tpc.com/scottsdale) Champions Course makes golf more enjoyable for kids and newbie-adults by turning the course into a shorter, more playable venue. Two markers are provided at each hole, offering unobstructed shots to the green with few, if any hazards, and there is even easy-to-read scorecards.

CANNONBALL!

Although Scottsdale is smack dab in the middle of one of America's largest deserts, families are never left high and dry. Fairmont Scottsdale Princess' kid-friendly Sonoran Splash is a 6,000-square-foot water recreation area featuring two of the state's longest resort water slides. The Phoenician boasts nine pools and an 11-million gallon Necklace Pool and Lagoon where families can help feed the resident Koi fish. But that all pales in comparison to the spine-tingling excitement of the 165-foot waterslide, which is transformed during summer holidays into an “electric waterslide” complete with fog, lasers and pulsating music.

Located in downtown Scottsdale, Kimpton's FireSky Resort & Spa's (www.fireskyresort.com) verdant inner courtyard hides a spacious pool deck including a sandy beach pool, Mediterranean-inspired lagoon, and torch-lit heated outdoor pool and hot tub. The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort tempts with two-and-a-half-acres of water wonderland, including 10 separate pools, 28 fountains and 47 sparkling waterfalls. Kid favorites include a spiraling three-story waterfall and “beach pool” featuring 500,000 pounds of toe-curling sand trucked in from Monterey, Calif. to form a 50-foot-long, 70-foot-wide shoreline.

Offering more than 575,000 gallons of wet n' wild fun, including a 110-foot-long waterslide and 900-foot-long lazy river ride, The Westin Kierland Resort's Adventure Water Park is a splashing good time. Lined with native desert plants and family friendly cabanas, the pool deck is complemented by a children's play area featuring pop-jet water fountains and a shallow pool for small children and babies. Plus, The Westin Kierland Resort is one of several Scottsdale resorts that encourage families to kick back in the pool and enjoy poolside cinema as part of their dive-in movie programs during the summer.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

Spring training home to Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, Scottsdale Stadium combines big-league entertainment with small venue charm. Held during the perfect 75-degree weather of March, little leaguers can get up close and personal with their idols during designated autograph time. Families are encouraged to pack a picnic lunch and watch from the grassy lawn seats just behind the outfield wall. Other Cactus League favorites, Colorado Rockies and Arizona's very own Diamondbacks, will have the last at-bat at the new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick starting in spring 2011where the 11,000-seat ballpark's scenic location provides aw-inspiring views of the Camelback and McDowell Mountains, and the game too!

BECAUSE FIDO'S FAMILY, TOO

Kimpton's FireSky Resort's BONE Appétit package offers pet-toting guests a customized doggie welcome, including pet themed DVDs, in-room gourmet treats, a leash, use of a desert doggie bed and bowl, and a free chew toy. W Scottsdale Hotel & Residences (www.wscottsdalehotel.com) goes above and beyond to pamper pets with its signature P.A.W. (Pets Are Welcome) program offering everything from pet turn-down service to a specialty menu with items such as baked salmon, grilled chicken and rice.

The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess makes bringing family's best friend on vacation easy and economical. The Paws on Board program accommodates pets less than 25 pounds for an additional $25 per night and includes a “Woofer” or “Purr-fect” gift set featuring a plush bed, ceramic food and water bowls, food mat, pet toys and of course, treats. With plenty of pet-friendly paths and grassy areas nearby, a leisurely afternoon w-a-l-k is a must for the vacation itinerary.

Located in the heart of Scottsdale's grass-lined Greenbelt recreation area, Chaparral Park (www.scottsdaleaz.gov/parks/chap) offers a four-acre off-leash area where the people watching is often as exciting as the dog walking. Here, rover can roam across three acres of play features, water fountains and grassy terrain, conveniently separated into areas for active and passive doggies.

To download a free kids activity guide to Scottsdale, visit www.scottsdalecvb.com/scottsdale/family-friendly.