The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale operates a shuttle that departs from the main lobby at 10a, 12p, 2p and 4p daily (except Sunday) and drops guests at Scottsdale Fashion Square, 5th Avenue Shops, and other locations in the Old Town Scottsdale area. Old Scottsdale boasts many new restaurants and a refurbished downtown area that is definitely worth a visit. If you or your family have spare time during your visit to Scottsdale, here are a few other local attractions you and they may enjoy:
Arizona Biltmore
Tel: 602/955-6600
2400 E. Missouri Ave
This resort hotel, although not designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, shows the famed architect’s hand in its distinctive cast-cement blocks. It also displays sculptures, furniture, and stained glass design
Arizona Capitol Museum
Tel: 602/926-3620
1700 W. Washington St
In the years before Arizona became a state, the territorial capital moved from Prescott to Tucson, then back to Prescott, before finally settling in Phoenix.
Arizona Doll & Toy Museum
Tel: 602/253-933
602 E. Adams St
This small museum is located in the historic Stevens House on Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix. The miniature classroom peopled by doll students is a favorite exhibit. With dolls dating from the 19th century, this is a definite must for doll collectors.
Arizona Historical Society Museum in Papago Park
Tel: 480/929-0292
1300 N. College Ave
This museum, at the headquarters of the Arizona Historical Society, focuses its well designed exhibits on the history of central Arizona. Temporary exhibits on the lives and works of the people who helped shape this region are always the highlights of a visit.
Arizona Science Center
Tel: 602/716-2000
600 E. Washington St
So, the kids weren’t impressed with the botanical garden or the Native American artifacts at the Heard Museum. Bring ‘them here. They can spend the afternoon pushing buttons, turning knobs, and interacting with all kinds of cool science exhibits. In the end, they might even learn something in spite of all the fun they have. The science center also includes a planetarium and a large-screen theater, both of which carry additional charges.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Tel: 520/723-3172
1100 W. Ruins Dr
Located outside the town of Coolidge, this national monument preserves one of the most unusual Indian ruins in the state. In Spanish, Casa Grande means “Big House,” and that’s exactly what you’ll find. In this instance, the big house is the ruin of an earth-walled structure built 650 years ago by the Hohokam people. It is speculated that the building was once some sort of astronomical observatory, but this is not known for certain. Whatever the original purpose of the building, today it provides a glimpse of a style of ancient architecture rarely seen.
Desert Botanical Garden
Tel: 480/941-1225
1201 N. Galvin Pkwy
Located in Papago Park adjacent to the Phoenix Zoo, this botanic garden displays more than 20,000 desert plants from around the world, and its Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Trail is the state’s best introduction to Southwestern ethnobotany (human use of plants). Along this trail you can make your own yucca-fi ber brush and practice grinding corn as Native Americans once did. On the Desert Wildflower Trail, you’ll find colorful wildflowers throughout much of the year. Each spring, there’s usually a butterfly pavilion filled with live butterflies.
Goldfield Ghost Town
Tel: 480/983-0333
4650 N Mammoth Mine Rd
Over on the east side of the Valley, just 4 miles northeast of Apache Junction, you’ll find a reconstructed 1890s gold-mining town. Although it’s a bit of a tourist trap— gift shops, an ice-cream parlor, and the like—it’s also home to the Goldfield Superstition Museum (tel. 480/677-6463), which has interesting exhibits on the history of the area.
Heard Museum
Tel: 602/252-8848
2301 N. Central Ave
The Heard Museum is one of the nation’s finest museums dealing exclusively with Native American cultures and is an ideal introduction to the indigenous peoples of Arizona. From pre-Columbian to contemporary, if it’s art created by Native Americans, you’ll find it here. If you’re interested in the native cultures of Arizona, this should be your very first stop in the state.
Phoenix Art Museum
Tel: 602/257-1222
1625 N. Central Ave
This is one of the largest art museums in the Southwest, and within its labyrinth of halls and galleries is a respectable collection that spans the major artistic movements from the Renaissance to the present. Exhibits cover decorative arts, historical fashions, Spanish colonial furnishings and religious art, and, of course, works by members of the Cowboy Artists of America.
Taliesin West
Tel: 480/860-8810 for information
12621 Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd
Frank Lloyd Wright loved the Arizona desert and, in 1937, built Taliesin West as a winter camp that served as his home, office, and school. Today the buildings of Taliesin West are the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and School of Architecture.
Wrigley Mansion
Tel: 602/955-4079
2501 E. Telawa Trail
Situated on a hilltop adjacent to the Arizona Biltmore, this elegant mansion was built by chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr., between 1929 and 1931 as a present for his wife, Ada.
Wells Fargo History Museum
Tel: 602/378-1852
100 W. Washington St
Yes, this museum is small, and, yes, it’s run by the Wells Fargo Bank, but the collection of artifacts here goes a long way toward conjuring up the Wild West so familiar from Hollywood movies.
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