Summertime in Arizona can be brutal or completely amazing, depending on how you spend your time. One way to escape when a heat wave hits is to take a day trip out of the city and enjoy the beautiful scenery (and cooler temperatures) up north. Here are three of the best family day trips in Arizona you can enjoy with your loved ones with summer:
Slide Rock State Park: This state park features a natural rock water slide. Bring swimsuits, towels, and a picnic for a day your kids will always remember. Oh, and you'll have a blast, too.
West Fork Oak Creek Canyon Hike: A 6 mile hike that meanders beside Oak Creek and Sedona's gorgeous red rock canyon walls. This trek is easy enough for children, and it's shaded and lush as well.
Sunset Crater…show more content… The desert heat is brutal, and while you hope that you never have to deal with an emergency mid-day in the desert, you always plan for it.
Bring treats
For the elementary school crowd, a little reward goes a long ways. Bring a new coloring book and pencils (not crayons!) that your child can receive if you make it to the halfway mark without complaints, or their favorite candy for when you've hit a landmark on the trip, like the sign for Tonto National Forest.
Be Prepared to Not be on Schedule
This is a tough one when you have only a day to complete a trip in. You start to feel like it's only worth it if you get out of the house at the time you planned to leave, or if you get to your destination by a certain time. In reality, taking a day trip with kids requires flexibility and a lot of patience. Try to remember that the drive is part of the adventure. Also, your family won't be the only one that wants to escape the heat of the summer, so roads leaving Phoenix on the weekend are often packed. It's still worth it to go, just go into your trip knowing that you probably won't stay on schedule, and that's
