McDowell Regional Park – Jan 2025 – TravelWithTheSlowskys

One of the beauties of McDowell Mountain Regional Park, located in northern Maricopa Count in Fountain Hills, AZ is that you are surrounded by beauty and quiet, and yet you are a short drive from a host of interesting things to do in the general Phoenix/Scottsdale area.

We have stayed here multiple times over the years, and it really is a great place to camp – with water and electricity, a grill box, and central dumping. Unless you have a different service from ours (Verizon), internet is almost completely lacking. A trip into town to visit the local Starbucks was our solution.

There are almost unlimited hiking and (mountain) biking trails right from your campsite, several biking trails nearby in Scottsdale and Phoenix, and many activities outside of camping in the area.

Previously, we made a visit to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), which I would highly recommend. While not intending to go to the museum this trip, we did purchase tickets Sunday night to go see Johnny A who was playing at the MIM theatre at 7 pm Wednesday evening.

We went about our activities during the week, including shopping for groceries. In fact, we purchased a roasted chicken that we planned to eat for dinner on the day of the concert. We basically had our shit together – so mature for us. Go big or go home.

Keep in mind we are not overly burdened by our scheduled appointments in any given week. During this week, the only appointment we had that had a solid day, place, and time was the Johnny A concert. As we are sitting around reading in our trailer one evening, Karen looks at me and says, with what I would describe as a bit of terror in her eyes and voice, is this Wednesday? I look at my watch – sure enough, it is Wednesday, about 730pm. Guess what venue had two empty seats because a couple of wingnuts have mixed up the days in the week.

Perhaps this is a case of over-sharing. No need to tell the kids – let’s keep this between us.

Not to be deterred, we had several hikes in and around the campground as well as a bike ride. I won’t lie, temperatures were a bit low (very low 60’s – yes I know this is awful whining), and the winds have been a bit extreme. We did very little outdoor sitting and reading during our stay here, mostly because of the winds. But the beauty around here is still superb.

We have two culinary suggestions if you are in this area and enjoy pizza and barbeque.

In the pizza category, we went to Pizzeria Bianco, which we had been to previously but could not wait to go again. Karen had found this place a few years ago listed by the NY Times food critic as the best pizza in America. Good enough recommendation for us! This place is just amazing, both in its’ vibe AND the food. Highly recommend.

The other foody place we would highly recommend, if you in the market for barbeque, is Little Miss BBQ in Phoenix! Ooh la la! I found this place because of a Michelin listing of their best barbeque places. Obviously, Phoenix is not considered the epicenter of barbeque, but this place takes some heritage from some Texas roots. It is superb. You can read more about its story from the owners in the link below.

https://littlemissbbq.com/about-us

This is not some whole in the wall barbeque joint in the back of someone’s property, but a well (apparently) financed operation, with really friendly and helpful staff. Don’t be put off by its relatively fancy appearance – this is damn good barbeque.

The brisket was as good as I have ever had, and we have had some amazing brisket in our travels. Likewise, the pork ribs were divine – tender, flavorful – delicious. The sausages were good but wouldn’t compel you to return. The beans were very good, although I would say the Mac n’ Cheese was meh. I have yet to try leftover Jalapeno grits, but as someone who loves grits, I look forward to this! Edit: the grits are killer!

We would clearly return here in a heartbeat, although next time if we come on a Thursday, we will get here earlier in the day so we could try their pastrami.