Surviving Phoenix Summer 2026

We got back from our monthlong epic TN-AL-TX roadtrip last week, and after a lovely under-average week of 100/70 and me deciding the desert was an awesome place after all, the next week has brought us back the 110/85 days. This morning I was desperately perusing google maps and honing in on any green point in a 3 hr radius.

I just canceled our camping trip for July 10, since the prediction said high of 96 at the campsite. It seems June 10-July 20th really isn't the best time to camp, even at 7000 elevation on the Rim. The campsites aren't booked up there, which tells you its just the hard-core campers there. Maybe we shall be them one day. But it's not yet. 

OK, Hannah, no need to re-invent the wheel.

June 10 to July 20th is kinda a deadzone for camping [being honest with myself, its probably more like June 10th to Aug 15 for us]

But  little rangers need to go a'ranging...

Living in the desert means being a Dawn Ranger. Waking to stars and chasing the twilights.

Phoenix in the summer is unbearable. Unless you chase the twilights. Live in the dawn and the dusks. Hide from the sun from 8am to 6/7pm. This handy reference helps, showing dawn times in the year.

HOW WE ARE GOING TO DO IT:

1. Wake them at 4:30 and head out to  Adventures from 4:30/5am to 7am....it starts to look beautiful 40 min before sunrise so  from 4:40 when sunrise is technically 5:20. 
2. Kids must learn to speak in whispers and travel quietly like real rangers when around Birdwatchers and Fishermen.
3. Load up to go home by 7am  
4. Siesta/Quiet Book Time at 10-2pm
5. Family Evenings with water 7:30-9:30pm//8-10pm Family Outside Time. Wet neck rags, and folk dance or soccer. Popsicles. Local Splashpads open till 10pm

Dawn Adventures---Weekday

Remember, always being a gallon of water. If Outside after 7am---Hats, sunscreen, water-bottles!!! 

• OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PARK. technically opens at 6am--10pm but if they are quiet, I think 5am is ok. Sprinklers are rumored to go off 5/5:30am
• Take the kids to the Riparion park, it opens at 5:30am--10pm. 
• Riparion trails, at 5:30-7am (Ranger quiet, stealth)
• Breakfast Picnic at Daddy's work. 6am to 7:30am, I will need to pick up Josh from work later.
• BIGGER ADVENTURES: Get the kids up at 4am. Get your pass here America the Beautiful Pass. So we need to use it at least 12 times to make it retroactively worth it! 
• Granite Reef Recreation area, wild horses at dawn. Go on a weekday, once a week. [look out for rattlesnakes]  @ 5am--7am [fishers?  23 min, L202 at dawn]
• ?Canyon Lake @ 5am [ 1 hr away. Acacia Recreation Site]
• ?Lake Saguaro @ 5am [42 min away]
• ?Pebble Beach
• ?Hidden Valley/Fat Man's pass/South Mouuntain? [no water, just desert. Only right at dawn]
• ?Sears-Kay Ruin (Hohokam)
• Check out more on Alltrails....

Evenings in the Twilights

7-9pm [8-10pm better] you can go outside, if you are wet.... The sun is down (7:40), but it has exhausted itself in pumping its heat into the earth. Here we are constrained by Daddy having a day job. So either we frolic off without him, or we drag an exhausted man out into the heat for adventures after a long day at work.... 

• Soccer/Dance/Wet Tag at the park (plus icecream). "Wet Tag" Play tag with sopping wet rags, you need to actually get someone wet for it to count. Bring along a bucket of waters for refills. BRING A FROZEN GALLON OF WATER and a FROZEN GALLON OF LEMONADE. Bring a boom-box and do English Folk Dancing on the basketball court. (If I can time to when the sprinklers go off, that would be a great time to visit the park)
• Go on walks in the evening around our neighborhood, or our park, wearing the wet cooling towels on our necks. 
• Enjoy dusk together as a family, in the backyard, in some sort of water games. 
• SPLASHPADS and climbing towers---Go to the splashpad at Riverview at 7-10pm, bring towels, two pizzas. Get wet first, then go play in the playground area and evaporative cooling will keep you alive. Have kids stick with their buddies to cut down on the chaos. Maybe you'll pick up some spanish! 
• SPLASHPADS and treehouse slides---Pioneer park is open until 10pm as well! 
• STAR-GAZING and LIGHTSABERS----Riparion Preserve is open from 5:30am-10pm Bring cheerios for the ducks. Riparion Preserve at 7pm on a Friday or Saturday, and stay when its dark to look through the observation telescope. Bring water and snacks, and maybe lightsabers.
• ROSES IN THE DARK---Rose Garden at Dusk. Load up on Popsicles/Icecream bars, and go visit the Rose Garden in the dark 8-9. Make the kids walk the circuit of the little trail with you, maybe 7x
• ANIMALS---??Riparion Trails in the Golden Hour. Trails shut at sunset, gates lock, so this might be a little stressful.... But the Riparion Park I think stays open a bit longer. Walk to the Carl's Damaged Pet Warehouse, with carrots.
•  IKEA EVENING---Feed the kids, and head over to IKEA 6pmish for an evening of perusing the display rooms. End by buying them cookies and Mork chocolate, head home and stop at the rose garden on the way to eat the chocolate and walk the circuit a few times. 

 

 The world can still be explored with highs of 113. Go and do it!!!

UPDATE: Basically the kids really need about 10 hours of silence to sleep every night, and the kids under 7 need a 90 min nap on top of that. Aim for complete silence, let the kids sleep, from 9---6am baseline. It will be adjusted according to activities.

• KIDS MUST BE UTTERLY SILENT in their rooms at 9pm 

• If we had a morning adventure (before 6am), Allow for mid-day naps [11/12-2] for everyone (not just the littles)
• If we are planning an evening excursion (8-10pm), let the kids sleep in till 8am the next morning. 

Day Trips with Daddy (sat morn)

Only downside is we need to wake up pretty early for this. 4am/4:30am/5am for most of them. Daddy's work maybe just 5:30... 

• Daddy's Work Breakfast Picnic. The little gardens around ASU. 5/6/7/8am there are no students up yet on Saturdays, We have the world to ourselves. It is beautiful.
• Water Wheel Falls Park. Aim to be there from 6-10. [starts filling up at 9] So need to get up at 4am and start driving. Then come home at 9:30/10 when its getting really hot and crowded, and the UV index soars. Come home, eat, and have a siesta
• ?Canyon Lake @ 5am [ 1 hr away. Acacia Recreation Site]
• ?Lake Saguaro @ 5am [42 min away]
• ?Granite Reef @ 5am [fishers?  23 min, L202 at dawn]

7-24-2026 UPDATE: I just had to cancel our July 24th trip as well. The problem is the heat spikes in July mean that even up on the Rim, the highs can be anywhere between a nice 81, or a high of 98 (unbearable). The only way to camp up on the Rim in July, is not to reserve in advance, and swing it depending on the weather. So, note to future self, don't reserve campsites from June 10th--Aug 15th