On an Extreme Heat Warning day the city closes, from 8am to 5pm, the Echo Canyon and Cholla trails at Camelback Mountain Preserve, the Piestewa Peak Summit trail and its associated trails at Phoenix Mountains Preserve, and the Holbert, Mormon and Hau'pal Loop trails plus National Trail access from Pima Canyon at South Mountain. Papago Park is deliberately not on that list, which makes it the desert answer for a family on a hot day. The other rule worth knowing is the free one: a Phoenix library card gives free admission for two people at 23 named venues including the Desert Botanical Garden, the Heard Museum and Phoenix Art Museum, limited to one pass per family at a time and up to two passes a month.
What can a family do in Phoenix for free?
The PHX Sky Train is free, runs 24 hours a day and is fully air conditioned, which makes it the only genuinely free thing in the city that a 45 degree afternoon cannot spoil. The Children's Museum of Phoenix opens free on the first Friday evening of every month from 5pm to 9pm. McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park charges nothing to enter and prices every ride separately. Phoenix Public Library storytimes cost nothing on any day. Encanto Park, Steele Indian School Park and Papago Park are all free and open long hours.
The 15 things worth doing, easiest first
Heat is the stamina cost in Phoenix, not distance. The city publishes an extended summer parking window at Piestewa Peak, open until 9pm from 1 June to 30 September, precisely so that families can use the ends of the day. Between 8am and 5pm from May to September the honest plan is indoors or in water, and the free indoor options here are the library, the Sky Train and one free museum evening a month.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, with a station at 44th Street and Washington
PHX Sky Train at Sky Harbor
A driverless automated people mover running between the Valley Metro Rail station at 44th and Washington and the airport terminals. For a train-obsessed small child it is the best free ride in the city.
Easy on everyone45 minutes to an hour for a return trip from 44th Street2 to 9, and strongly so- Cost
- Free, with no qualification. The operator publishes flatly that the PHX Sky Train is free to the public.
- Booking ahead
- None. Between 5am and 10pm the operator publishes an average wait of three and a half to seven minutes.
- If it rains
- If it rains: This is the fallback, and it is the free one: enclosed, air conditioned and running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Downtown Phoenix, on North 7th Street
Children's Museum of Phoenix on Free First Friday Night
Three floors of hands-on exhibits in the restored 1913 Monroe School building, built for children from birth to about ten, and free for four hours on the first Friday evening of every month.
A whole day, and they will be finishedA fixed four-hour window from 5pm to 9pm on the free eveningBirth to 10, with the sweet spot roughly 2 to 8- Cost
- Free on Free First Friday Night. At all other times general admission is 19 dollars a person for anyone aged one and older.
- Booking ahead
- Tickets sell online and at the door on paid days.
- If it rains
- If it rains: This is the indoor fallback, fully air conditioned across three floors, with water bottle fillers on every floor.
East Phoenix, either side of Galvin Parkway on the Tempe and Scottsdale side
Papago Park and Hole in the Rock
A low sandstone butte park with ponds, easy trails and a short scramble up to the Hole in the Rock opening. The city rates its trails easy, which is rare for Phoenix.
Easy on everyone1 to 2 hours for the buttes and the ponds3 upward, with a hand held on the short scramble- Cost
- Free. No admission and no per-vehicle charge is published for the park itself.
- Booking ahead
- None.
- If it rains
- If it rains: The Hole in the Rock opening is the only natural shade on the butte. The Hall of Flame museum is the indoor neighbour in the same park.
Central Phoenix, on North 15th Avenue
Encanto Park
A 222-acre city park built from 1935 around a lagoon and channel system, with mature trees, shade structures and a playground, open from 5:30am to 11pm.
Easy on everyone2 to 3 hours, longer with the amusement park or the pedal boatsAny age. It works for a one-year-old and a ten-year-old on the same afternoon- Cost
- Free to enter and free to use. The paid things inside it are separate businesses.
- Booking ahead
- None for the park.
- If it rains
- If it rains: None in the park itself. Shade structures and mature trees are the shelter.
Scottsdale, at Scottsdale Road and Indian Bend Road
McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park
A 30-acre city park built around a working narrow-gauge miniature railway, with a free railroad museum and a free model railroad building alongside it.
Easy on everyone2 to 3 hours1 to 8 is the core, and over about 9 the train stops being the point- Cost
- Free to enter, and every ride is priced separately. This is the clearest free-entry-paid-ride split in the city.
- Booking ahead
- Not required. Tickets are bought on the day.
- If it rains
- If it rains: Yes, and free: the Scottsdale Railroad Museum and the Model Railroad Building are both indoors and cost nothing.
Central Phoenix, at 3rd Street and Indian School Road
Steele Indian School Park
A 72-acre park on the grounds of the former Phoenix Indian School, with the historic Memorial Hall, a visitor centre, a pond and the deepest shade of any central Phoenix park.
Easy on everyone1.5 to 3 hoursAny age. The history suits adults and older children, the playground and the pond carry the little ones- Cost
- Free. No admission and no per-vehicle charge is published.
- Booking ahead
- None for casual use.
- If it rains
- If it rains: Shade structures and mature trees. The visitor centre is the indoor point and its hours were not published.
System-wide, across 16 branch libraries plus Burton Barr Central Library
Phoenix Public Library storytimes
Free drop-in children's programmes run at branches across the city, in fixed 30-minute slots mostly between 9:15 and 10:30 in the morning. No library card is needed to attend.
Easy on everyone30 to 45 minutesBirth to about 6 for storytimes- Cost
- Free, on any day of the month, with no charge on any programme in the calendar.
- Booking ahead
- None. Storytimes are listed as programmes at named rooms and times.
- If it rains
- If it rains: This is the fallback, and unlike the museums it costs nothing on every day rather than one evening a month.
Downtown Scottsdale, on North Drinkwater Boulevard
Scottsdale Civic Center
A recently rebuilt civic park in the old heart of Scottsdale, with Children's Gardens, sculpture and a Water and Fog Plaza that is a heat feature rather than a decoration.
Easy on everyone1 to 2 hours1 to 10- Cost
- Free.
- Booking ahead
- None for casual use.
- If it rains
- If it rains: The Water and Fog Plaza is the heat answer. The performing arts centre is the indoor neighbour.
South Phoenix
South Mountain Park and Preserve, and Dobbins Lookout
One of the largest municipally managed parks in the country at more than 16,000 acres, with a road up to Dobbins Lookout that makes the view reachable without a hike.
Easy on everyoneAn hour if you drive to the lookout, a half day if you hikeAny age for the drive and the lookout. The trails are 8-plus with an adult watching the temperature- Cost
- Free. No admission and no per-vehicle entrance charge is published.
- Booking ahead
- None. Four of its trails close 8am to 5pm on an Extreme Heat Warning day.
- If it rains
- If it rains: The visitor centre is the only indoor point and it opens Thursday to Sunday, 9am to 3pm only.
Central-north Phoenix, with the Dreamy Draw Recreation Area
Piestewa Peak and the Phoenix Mountains Preserve
A preserve around the 2,608-foot Piestewa Peak, with lower trails a family can use and a summit trail that is a serious walk. The car park keeps extended summer hours until 9pm.
A whole day, and they will be finished1 to 2 hours on the lower trails, 2 to 3 for the summitLower trails from about 5 with an adult. The summit is realistically 12 and over- Cost
- Free. No admission and no per-vehicle charge is published.
- Booking ahead
- None. The summit trail and its associated trails close 8am to 5pm on an Extreme Heat Warning day.
- If it rains
- If it rains: None published. There is no visitor centre equivalent to South Mountain's.
Inside Encanto Park, central Phoenix
Enchanted Island Amusement Park
A small children's amusement park inside Encanto Park with about ten rides, a splash zone and a climbing wall, including two historic rides. Entry is free and the rides are not.
Easy on everyone2 to 3 hours2 to 9. The ride list is built for children under about 54 inches and the operator's grid is organised by height rather than age- Cost
- Entry is always free, in the operator's own words. Rides are 6.50 dollars each, with all-day passes sold separately.
- Booking ahead
- Not needed for a family. In September the operator published evening-only hours from 5:30pm, which is itself a heat schedule.
- If it rains
- If it rains: Shady picnic areas and shaded ramadas are published, but nothing indoors.
Papago Park, across Van Buren Street from the Phoenix Zoo
Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting
An indoor museum of firefighting history, with hand-drawn, horse-drawn and motorised apparatus. It holds a fire-engine-obsessed four-year-old better than most museums twice the price.
Easy on everyone1.5 to 2 hours3 to 11- Cost
- Not free. Adults 18 and over pay 19 dollars, students aged 6 to 17 pay 15, and ages 3 to 5 pay 10, so the price ladder has a sharp step at age six.
- Booking ahead
- Not required for a family. Groups of ten or more reserve 24 hours ahead.
- If it rains
- If it rains: Fully indoors and air conditioned, which makes it a genuine July option.
Encanto Park North, central Phoenix
Pedal boats on the Encanto Park lagoon
Pedal boat and canoe hire on the Encanto Park lagoon and channels, priced per boat rather than per person, and one of very few Phoenix water activities a toddler can legally do.
A solid half day30 to 60 minutes3 to 10 as passengers with an adult pedalling, and a published minimum age of 2- Cost
- Not free. Rental starts at 25.88 dollars per half hour for up to two people and 36.23 for up to four, so it is a per-boat charge.
- Booking ahead
- Not published as required, though the operator asks for photo ID and a waiver at the dock. Weekend late-afternoon hours only when read.
- If it rains
- If it rains: None on the water. The park's trees are the fallback.
Camelback Mountain Preserve, between Phoenix, Paradise Valley and Scottsdale
Camelback Mountain, Echo Canyon and Cholla trails
The city's best-known summit hike, to a peak the city states sits 2,704 feet above sea level. It is here as the honest exclusion rather than as a recommendation.
A whole day, and they will be finished3 to 4 hours for the summit and back, with no shorter loop worth the driveTeenagers and confident over-12s only, on the city's own difficulty rating- Cost
- Free, with no admission and no per-vehicle charge published.
- Booking ahead
- None, but check the closure notices before driving: both trails close 8am to 5pm on an Extreme Heat Warning day, and parking is the real problem rather than the price.
- If it rains
- If it rains: None. There is no shade on either trail and the city says so.
Apache Junction, at the foot of the Superstition Mountains about 40 miles east of downtown
Lost Dutchman State Park
A state park under the Superstitions with a signposted easy Native Plant Trail and a hard summit route, and the cleanest example on this page of a desert day priced by the car.
Easy on everyone2 hours for the Native Plant Trail and a picnic, a full day for the summit routeAny age for the Native Plant Trail and the picnic areas. The summit route is teenagers and fit adults only- Cost
- Not free, and charged by the vehicle rather than the head: 10 dollars for a vehicle with one person and 20 dollars for two to four people.
- Booking ahead
- Not required for day use. Trails open at 6am, and in summer the only sensible visit starts at opening.
- If it rains
- If it rains: The visitor centre is the only indoor point and it closes at 3:30pm every day.
What parents ask about Phoenix
Why does Phoenix close its hiking trails during the day?
Because of heat, and the trigger is published rather than discretionary. The City of Phoenix closes named trails from 8am to 5pm on any day the National Weather Service issues an Extreme Heat Warning. The list covers the Echo Canyon and Cholla trails at Camelback Mountain Preserve, the Piestewa Peak Summit trail and its associated trails, and at South Mountain the Holbert, Mormon and Hau'pal Loop trails plus access to the National Trail from Pima Canyon. The trail list was approved by the Parks Board in March 2025 effective immediately, with the 8am start and the South Mountain expansion approved the previous October. Papago Park is deliberately not on the list, which is why it is the desert answer on a hot day.
What does a Phoenix library card get you for free?
Admission for two people at 23 named venues, through the Culture Pass. The library publishes free admission for two at a list that includes the Desert Botanical Garden, the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, limited to one pass per family at any one time and up to two passes a month. It is verified independently on both the library's and the Heard's own sites. For a family staying long enough to get a card, that is the single largest saving available in Phoenix, because it converts the two most expensive garden and museum tickets in the city into a free afternoon.
Where does a free Phoenix park stop being free?
At the car park, at the ride, or at the county line, and the pattern is worth learning before you drive. Lost Dutchman State Park charges 20 dollars per vehicle for two to four people, which is the same as for two people, so a family of four does well and two families in two cars do not. Zilker-style hourly parking is not the Phoenix problem: here the problem is that Camelback has nowhere legal to park at all, with towing and idling enforcement at the trailheads. At Enchanted Island entry is free and every ride is 6.50 dollars. At McCormick-Stillman entry is free and the train is 3 dollars. The Sky Train is free, and getting to it is where the money goes.
What is there to do in Phoenix with kids when it is 45 degrees?
Four things, and only two of them are free. The PHX Sky Train is enclosed, air conditioned, runs 24 hours a day and costs nothing, which makes it the best free heat answer in the city. Phoenix Public Library storytimes are indoors, air conditioned and free every day rather than one evening a month. The Children's Museum of Phoenix is fully indoors and free on the first Friday evening of the month, and 19 dollars a head otherwise. The Hall of Flame in Papago Park is indoors and paid. Everything else on this page is outdoors, and between 8am and 5pm in summer the honest advice is not to be.
What are the parking hours at Phoenix's mountain parks?
Shorter than the trail hours, which is the trap that catches families at sunset. At South Mountain the city publishes parking and entrance hours of 5am to 7pm against trail hours of 5am to 11pm, so a family driving up for a June sunset at around 7:40pm finds the entrance gate shut. Piestewa Peak runs the same 5am to 7pm gate, extended to 9pm annually from 1 June to 30 September, which is the useful and underused fact: in high summer the city keeps that car park open four hours later precisely so people can use the cool end of the day. Papago Park runs two different clocks either side of Galvin Parkway.
Is the Burton Barr Rare Book Room a good free stop with children?
No, and this is the fact Phoenix listicles get wrong most often. The Rare Book Room at the central library is repeatedly recommended as a quirky free family stop, and the library's own event listing gives its audience as adults, seniors and teens. It is not a small-children activity. What the library does offer families for free, on every day rather than on walk-in Saturdays, is its storytime programme across sixteen branches plus the central library, in fixed 30-minute slots mostly between 9:15 and 10:30 in the morning, with no library card required to attend.
Getting around with children
This is a driving city and most of this page needs a car. The exceptions matter for a family without one: Steele Indian School Park is walkable from the Central Avenue and Indian School light rail station, and the PHX Sky Train connects to Valley Metro Rail at 44th Street and Washington, so the free ride is reachable on the free-ish network. Valley Metro's own fare pages could not be read at all in this research, returning a hard block on every attempt, so no fare figure is published here rather than a guessed one.
Where to base yourself in Phoenix
Central Phoenix puts you within reach of Encanto Park, Steele Indian School Park and the library branches, and Steele Indian School Park is the one a family can walk to from a light rail station. Papago Park sits east towards Tempe and Scottsdale, and the Scottsdale entries are a drive from anywhere in Phoenix proper.
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What to skip
Three things. The first is driving to a trailhead on a hot day without checking the closure notice, because the city's 8am to 5pm Extreme Heat Warning closure applies to exactly the trails a visitor has heard of, and Camelback is the worst of them for parking even when open. The second is the sunset drive to Dobbins Lookout or Piestewa Peak, where the car park gate closes hours before the trails do. The third is a smaller but live inconsistency: Scottsdale publishes the Civic Center's Water and Fog Plaza as delivered on one of its own pages and the splash pad as still unbuilt on another, and both are the city's own, so check before promising a child water. Note too that the city's own alert banners were carrying a stale fire ban when this page was researched.
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Photo credits (4)
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.
- The air-conditioned interior of a PHX Sky Train carriage at Phoenix Sky Harbor: Fred Cherrygarden - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Families riding the miniature train at Enchanted Island in Encanto Park, Phoenix: Chris English - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- The entrance sign and flower beds at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale: Richard N Horne - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- The Superstition Mountains rising above the desert at Lost Dutchman State Park: Beyond My Ken - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source