Avondale, Arizona
Things to do.
Parks, museums, family days and nights out in Avondale, plus the Valley icons a short drive away. Something for tonight and something for the weekend.
Outdoors
Crystal Gardens
Crystal Gardens Wetland Trails
An 8.75-mile trail network through a 72-acre wetland and around 14 lakes, with bird watching, fishing and native vegetation.
South of the Gila
Estrella Mountain Regional Park
The first park in the county system, nearly twenty thousand acres with thirty three miles of trail and the only sixty five acre grass picnic area in the whole system.
Where the Gila, Salt and Agua Fria meet
Tres Rios Wetlands
Seven hundred acres of constructed wetland where three rivers come together, and some of the best bird watching in the West Valley. Access is by permit.
Avondale
Tres Rios Golf Course
The municipal course on the river bottom, and the cheapest real round in this corner of the valley.
Phoenix / Around the Valley
Camelback Mountain
The Valley's signature summit hike, 2,704 feet over the Sonoran Desert.
North Valley / Around the Valley
Lake Pleasant Regional Park
The Valley's big blue playground: boating, kayaking and desert coves up north.
Arts & culture
Papago Park / Around the Valley
Desert Botanical Garden
50,000 desert plants and rotating shows like the Chihuly glass. Free the 2nd Tuesday monthly.
Phoenix / Around the Valley
Musical Instrument Museum
4,000+ instruments from every country on earth, routinely called the Valley's best museum.
Family fun
El Mirage Rd
Alamar Park
A 40-acre park with sports courts and fields, an amphitheater, splash pad, fishing pond, dog parks, playgrounds and public art.
Lower Buckeye Rd
Festival Fields Park
A 40-plus-acre park with a splash pad, fishing pond, dog park, skate park, pump track, courts and ballfields.
McDowell Rd
Friendship Park
Avondale's 60-plus-acre community park offers sports fields and courts, a splash pad, fishing pond, dog parks, playgrounds and public art.
The BLVD
Park Avenue Plaza
A central gathering spot at The BLVD with a lake and fountain, koi pond, two pedestrian bridges and a splash pad.
Estrella Falls
Harkins Estrella Falls 16
Sixteen screens on McDowell, including a four hundred seat auditorium with an eighty foot screen.
Avondale
Main Event
Bowling, laser tag, an arcade and a kitchen, built for the afternoons nobody wants to be outside.
Avondale
Uptown Jungle Fun Park
An indoor play park for the under-tens, and the standing answer to a July Saturday.
Papago Park / Around the Valley
Phoenix Zoo
Arizona's beloved nonprofit zoo, wild since 1962.
Downtown Phoenix / Around the Valley
Arizona Science Center
Hands-on STEM, a planetarium and a five-story screen downtown.
Nightlife & events
Avondale
Phoenix Raceway
A mile oval running NASCAR since 1964, and the reason a lot of people know Avondale's name at all.
Hours and prices change. Confirm with each spot before you head out. Looking for a bite after? Where to eat in Avondale.
Never wonder what to do.
The Avondale weekly rounds up what is happening, what is new and what is worth your weekend. Every Friday morning.
