While in the general Phoenix area we spent a few nights at Cave Creek Regional Park in Cave Creek, AZ. I’ll get to our camping experience but first a couple of observations about greater Phoenix drivers.
- There’s about a 5:1 ratio of signage protecting animals over pedestrians and cyclists.
- If you are a pedestrian and believe that you have the right of way, you will be quickly and irreversibly corrected.
- Caffeination is a requirement of all drivers before getting behind the wheel. Apparently, it helps with acceleration.
- The passing lane is restricted to young, single, male drivers in pickup trucks.
Meanwhile, we had a great camping experience! The Cave Creek Regional Park campground, located to the northeast of downtown Phoenix, was great – quiet, with water and electric and a common dumping station. Like McDowell Mountain Regional Park, this park is run by Maricopa County.
There are many miles of hiking, biking, and horseback trails in and around the park, as well as clearly marked maps and signposts along the way. Temperatures for us were in the high 50’s/low 60’s during the day, and very comfortable for hiking.
Located in the Chiricahua Mountains, we didn’t see any wildlife, other than some trail horses. Signs indicated this area is the home of scorpions, tarantulas, desert tortoises, mountain lions, javalinas, coyotes, and gila monsters. Isn’t that special. Many of them are creatures of the night, which quite frankly is good by me.
And of course, the desert terrain, with cactus galore, and grasses, are just so beautiful.
This was a short but excellent stay – see you soon!
