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Scottsdale sits at the eastern edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area, where the Sonoran Desert rises against the McDowell Mountains. Once a small farming community, the city has grown into one of the Southwest’s most celebrated destinations for art, golf, and desert adventure. Old Town Scottsdale serves as the cultural heart, its wooden sidewalks and adobe buildings recalling the city’s frontier past while hosting a thriving scene of galleries, boutiques, and restaurants. Visitors are drawn year-round to the combination of world-class resorts, a walkable arts district, and thousands of miles of desert trails stretching right into the city limits.
Scottsdale’s story begins with the Otóngeo and Mojave peoples, who inhabited the Salt River Valley for centuries before European contact. The settlement that would become Scottsdale was founded in 1888 when former Army chaplain Winfield Scott purchased land along the Arizona Canal and laid out a town site with the ambition of building a “western watering place” to rival the resorts of Southern California. Winfield Scott himself is etched into the city’s name, though the original town operated as a quiet farming settlement through the first half of the twentieth century, producing citrus, cotton, and hay on irrigated acreage that now sits beneath some of the region’s most valuable real estate.
The city’s transformation accelerated after World War II, when returning veterans and growing aviation connections through Sky Harbor International Airport brought an influx of tourists and new residents. The construction of the Arizona Canal in the early twentieth century had already made the area viable for agriculture; by the 1950s and 1960s, Scottsdale was positioning itself as a destination for health, wellness, and outdoor recreation, attracting the resort development that defines its character today. The establishment of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in the 1990s marked a new chapter, with the city committing to preserving hundreds of thousands of acres of desert landscape for public use. This balance—between tourism-driven growth and environmental stewardship—remains central to Scottsdale’s identity.
Old Town Scottsdale is the district most visitors explore first, centered around Brown Avenue and Main Street. The area is home to dozens of art galleries ranging from contemporary Southwest works to Native American pottery and jewelry, as well as the Scottsdale Historical Museum, housed in a converted school building that chronicles the city’s early decades. The Scottsdale Arts District extends beyond Old Town into a broader corridor of studios and exhibition spaces that host events like the weekly Scottsdale ArtWalk every Thursday evening.
Beyond the cultural core, McDowell Sonoran Preserve offers immediate access to the desert landscape with over 30 miles of maintained trails winding through saguaro cactus forests and across rocky terrain. McDowell Mountain itself is a striking backdrop visible from nearly every part of the city. For a more curated natural experience, the Butterfly Wonderland in the Rawhide district is one of the largest butterfly sanctuaries in the nation, housing thousands of tropical butterflies in a climate-controlled rainforest environment. The Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West has earned national recognition for its collection of art and artifacts depicting the American West, including bronze sculptures, historic firearms, and Native American textiles.
The McDowell Sonoran Preserve is the crown jewel of Scottsdale’s outdoor offerings, encompassing more than 30,000 acres of preserved desert landscape. Trails like the Sunset Vista Trail and the Browns Ranch Trail provide everything from easy walks to challenging treks with significant elevation gain. Cyclists and hikers share the pathways, with the McDowell Mountain ridgeline providing dramatic views across the valley. The preserve is particularly popular in the early morning and late afternoon, when temperatures are cooler and the golden desert light makes the landscape especially striking.
Salt River kayaking and paddleboarding has become increasingly popular, with outfitters operating trips that let visitors float past red rock cliffs and wildlife including bald eagles, herons, and desert bighorn sheep. Golf is a major draw—Scottsdale boasts more than 200 golf courses, earning it a reputation as one of the premier golf destinations in the world. Courses like TPC Scottsdale, host of the annual WM Phoenix Open, challenge serious players, while resort courses offer luxury experiences with Sonoran Desert scenery. For a different kind of outdoor experience, hot air balloon rides over the desert provide sweeping views of the McDowell Mountains and the valley below, with landings often followed by champagne breakfasts in scenic locations.
The Scottsdale Fashion Square is one of the highest-grossing shopping centers in the United States, anchoring the city’s reputation for luxury retail alongside the boutique-lined streets of Old Town. Visitors seeking experiential attractions will find plenty to fill their itineraries: OdySea Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the Southwest, housing over 500 species including sharks, sea turtles, and a rare two-person submarine ride. LEGO Land and Butterfly Wonderland round out the family-friendly attractions, while the Scottsdale Car Museum showcases a rotating collection of vintage and exotic automobiles.
For those interested in the region’s Native American heritage, Taliesin West, the winter home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, offers guided tours of the desert campus he designed and built in the 1930s. The architecture is quintessential Wright—low-slung structures blending into the landscape, with bold geometric forms and intimate interior spaces. Cosanti, the experimental ceramics studio and wind bell creator founded by Paolo Soleri, is another architectural gem, where visitors can watch the famous wind bell-making process and explore the hand-built earthen structures scattered across the property.
The winter months from November through March are considered the peak visiting season for Scottsdale, when daytime temperatures consistently land in the comfortable 65 to 80 degree range. This is when the city hosts its most celebrated events, including the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show in February and the Parada del Sol rodeo in early spring. Cooler evenings make outdoor dining and evening strolls through Old Town particularly pleasant during these months.
Summer brings intense heat—temperatures routinely exceed 105 degrees—which keeps many visitors away and drives down hotel rates significantly. For those who can handle the heat, summer offers a quieter experience with shorter lines at attractions and easy restaurant reservations. Spring (March through May) is spectacular when the desert wildflowers bloom across the preserve trails and temperatures climb toward but don’t quite reach the summer extremes. Fall (September and October) offers a similar climate to spring as the monsoons end and the landscape greens briefly before drying out. Regardless of season, early mornings are the best time to hike—the trails are less crowded and the desert light is ideal for photography.
Here are some of our recommended things to do near Scottsdale. Choose your favorite!
The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art occupies a striking location in the city’s Civic Center neighborhood, housed in what was originally a movie theater from the 1950s. The building itself is a piece of architectural history, but what draws vis…
Taliesin West stands as one of the great architectural landmarks of the American Southwest, a sprawling desert campus designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright beginning in 1937. Perched on a mesa overlooking the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, the…