Phoenix

Parks and Recreation

Phoenix's parks, including Mountains Preserve, are comprised of 12,319 hectares (30,441 acres). Reportedly the nation's largest city park at 6,475 hectares (16,000 acres), South Mountain Park provides a scenic view of the city and offers hiking trails and horseback riding. There is a boat lagoon at Encanto Park, which is located at 15th Avenue and Encanto Boulevard. The Margaret T. Hance Deck Park, part of the ongoing improvements to the downtown area, is a 12-hectare (29-acre) strip of land between Third Street and Third Avenue with fountains, wooded areas, and a Japanese garden (a gesture toward Phoenix's sister city of Hemeji, Japan). Other parks in the Phoenix area include Papago Park, Squaw Peak Recreation Area, Estrella Mountain Regional Park, and White Tank Mountain Regional Park.

Phoenix has 663 kilometers (412 miles) of bicycle paths, 141 municipal tennis courts, 27 municipal swimming pools, and five municipal golf courses. Together, Phoenix and the surrounding Salt River Valley area have over 140 golf courses and more than 1,000 tennis and racquetball courts. Water sports are played at a variety of natural and artificial lakes in the region. Other outdoor activities enjoyed year round in the Phoenix area include hiking, mountain climbing, camping, and horseback riding.

The Phoenix Zoo, situated on a hilly site covering 51 hectares (125 acres), houses over 1,300 animals, representing 300 different species both from the region and throughout the world, and including 150 animals classified as endangered. The animals are maintained in open settings that are as close as possible to their natural habitats, including facsimiles of mountains, rain forests, grasslands, and deserts. There is also a petting zoo for children.

The Desert Botanical Garden displays over 2,000 species of desert plants, situated along a 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) trail.