Florence, Arizona
Things to do.
Parks, museums, family days and nights out in Florence, plus the Valley icons a short drive away. Something for tonight and something for the weekend.
Outdoors
North of the Gila
Poston Butte Preserve
A butte above town with a trail to the pyramid tomb of Charles Poston, the man they called the Father of Arizona, buried where he asked to be.
About seventeen miles northwest
San Tan Mountain Regional Park
Ten thousand acres on the San Tan range, with trails from a flat loop to a full day out.
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
Ruggles St
McFarland State Historic Park
A museum and visitor center in an original 1878 adobe courthouse at 24 W. Ruggles Street, with exhibits about frontier life and Ernest McFarland.
Downtown
Historic Downtown Florence
A National Historic District with preserved adobe and Victorian-era buildings in one of Arizona's oldest towns, supported by a local walking tour and audio tour.
Main St
Pinal County Historical Museum
A nonprofit museum founded in 1958 at 715 S. Main Street, with exhibits spanning pre-contact history through the 1950s, Territorial Prison artifacts and local farm life.
St Joseph's Way
St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery
A Greek Orthodox monastery at 4784 St. Joseph's Way with churches, chapels, gardens, paths and fountains created in the Sonoran Desert since 1995.
Pinal St
PEG Arts Center
A nonprofit arts center at 270 N. Pinal Street inside a historic 1880 adobe, named for Florence photographer Pedro E. Guerrero.
Coolidge, about nine miles southwest
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
The four storey Hohokam Great House under its steel canopy, and the first archaeological preserve the country ever made.
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
Main Street
Florence Community Library
The town library on Main, and the coolest room downtown in August.
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
Canyon Moon Ranch
Country Thunder Arizona
Four days of country music on a ranch outside town every spring, and by some distance the biggest weekend Florence has.
Hours and prices change. Confirm with each spot before you head out. Looking for a bite after? Where to eat in Florence.
Never wonder what to do.
The Florence weekly rounds up what is happening, what is new and what is worth your weekend. Every Friday morning.
