The Best Scenic Drives Near Scottsdale and Phoenix

The best scenic drives near Scottsdale start minutes from town

The desert around Scottsdale and Phoenix holds some of the most memorable driving in the Southwest. Wide desert highways, mountain overlooks, desert lakes, and sunsets that stay with people long after they fly home. For guests staying in one of our estates, a scenic drive is the easiest way to see the country that surrounds the city, and most of these routes begin just minutes away.

The Sonoran Desert rewards a slow pace. Go early or go late, pull over when the light is doing something, and let the day be about the road rather than the destination. Here are the four drives we recommend most, roughly in order of drama.

Apache Trail: the most famous desert drive in Arizona

If you take one drive, take this one. The Apache Trail is a historic roadway that winds through rugged desert terrain, with canyon walls, desert lakes, and towering rock formations that look nothing like the Scottsdale you woke up in.

The route passes Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat, a tiny historic settlement that keeps the frontier spirit of old Arizona intact. Sections of road climb through steep canyon country, and the overlooks are worth every stop. The Tonto National Forest manages most of the surrounding land and is the place to check current road and area information before you go.

McDowell Mountain scenic routes north of Scottsdale

North of the city, the roads around the McDowell Sonoran Preserve offer a quieter drive: desert foothills, forests of saguaro, and enormous open sky. This is the drive for early morning or the hour before sunset, when the light turns the McDowells gold and then deep orange.

Most guests pair it with a short hike or a photography stop or two. If you are staying at Troon Ranch Casitas in North Scottsdale, this one is practically out the driveway, and it makes a fine warm-up before an afternoon at the pool.

Desert Foothills Parkway: the relaxed option

Desert Foothills Parkway runs through the foothills north of Phoenix and gives uninterrupted views of mountain ranges and open desert without any white-knuckle driving. It is smooth, easy to navigate, and ideal for a lazy afternoon when the group wants scenery without effort.

Time it for the end of the day. Watching the sky change color over the foothills is a quiet way to close out a Scottsdale afternoon, and you are home in time for dinner.

Carefree Highway and the high Sonoran Desert

Carefree Highway crosses the northern desert around Scottsdale and shows a different side of the Sonoran: rolling terrain, scattered cactus forests, and distant mountain silhouettes. The wide horizons create a calm that contrasts sharply with the energy of the city's popular districts.

Guests often tell us that simply driving through this country turned out to be the most relaxing part of the trip. Nothing to book, nothing to queue for. Just the road and the light.

How to plan a desert drive from your Scottsdale rental

The advantage of staying in a private home is flexibility. A scenic drive can be a spontaneous afternoon or a full day, and you come back to a patio, a pool, and a kitchen rather than a hotel corridor. A few habits make these drives better.

• Leave early or late. Midday light flattens the desert and the heat flattens you.
• Carry more water than you think you need, and fuel up before the remote stretches.
• Check current conditions with the managing agency, especially for the Apache Trail.
• Pull over at the overlooks. The best photographs happen when you stop the car.
• Ask our concierge about guided desert tours if you would rather someone else drive.

Questions we get asked