Tempe Town Lake

This gateway to Tempe is practically a town unto itself. It’s home to an historic baseball field that plays host to softball games and carnival rides, as well as the Splash Playground, a one-acre water park that actually collects the water your kids are playing in, then filters, cleans, and re-circulates it in a state-of-the-art system. An amphitheater accommodates 5,000 people for concerts and outdoor trade shows. Completed in 1999, Tempe Town Lake is nearly two miles long and surrounded by a park and business and residential highrises that look out over the fun of fishing (the lake is stocked with rainbow trout and largemouth bass from November through February), boating, and even an excursion called the Rio Salado Cruise. Annual events at the lake include the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl New Year's Eve Block Party, the Tempe Music Festival, the APS Fantasy of Lights, and a Fourth of July fireworks that’s the biggest and brightest in the valley.