Best Place To Have Rover Come Over 2001 | Chaparral Park Off-Leash Dog Run | Sports & Recreation | Phoenix
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It's so hard to meet new friends, especially when you're hairy as a bear, with a wet nose and a predilection for sniffing butts. What's a dog to do?

Thank goodness for Chaparral Park, with its fenced, 1.3 acres of lush grass, trees and, on any given day, as many as 150 pets with people. Here's where our pampered pooches come to mix, mingle and, yes, sniff butts, with fellow canines enjoying a taste of off-leash freedom. The park's open until 9 p.m. daily, and it's usually packed around 7:30 p.m. Our pup's been socialized, so he knows how to behave with his new buds (no fighting, no biting).

And if we're lucky, we just might find a new friend of our own, too. Someone who loves pets as much as we do -- but no butt sniffers need apply.

Okay, so this isn't the "Best of Eloy" issue -- but there's no zoning for dropping pedestrians from the sky in our fair city. Anyway, Eloy isn't that far away (halfway to Tucson), and it's got what it claims is the "world's largest skydiving center," with nearly 200,000 annual jumps. Skydive Arizona is also the favorite hangout for Valley skydivers for one particular reason: It has a bar. Not to mention a swimming pool, air-conditioned packing area, skydiving school, three landing areas, gear shop, restaurant, $5-per-night bunkhouse and volleyball court. To get there, take Interstate 10 east to Exit 198, turn left, drive seven miles, then go left on Tumbleweed Road. The uninitiated can take a tandem jump for $140, while lifts for the certified (or is that certifiable?) start at $17. Just chute me!

With 35,000 square feet of rails, decks and bowls, this park offers something for skaters of all levels. We've seen high-flying skateboard veterans, intermediate in-liners and even toddlers on Barbie skates having fun here. Considered one of the top skate parks in the country, Snedigar is a busy concrete island in a large, relaxing park setting. What sets it apart from the growing list of Valley skate parks? Extra amenities like well-placed benches, a picnic ramada, a nearby Bark Park for doggies and a kiddy swing along the fence so little ones (and whoever's pushing them) can watch the skaters show their stuff.

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