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Suggest a Feature →Phoenix Metro / West Valley
The world's largest fighter training base. In the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Luke AFB in Glendale trains more F-35 pilots than any installation in the world and is the world's largest fighter training base by number of flying operations. It sits in the West Valley of Metropolitan Phoenix — Glendale, Peoria, and Surprise form the surrounding community.
Phoenix is one of the fastest-growing cities in America and offers everything a large metro area provides: excellent food (James Beard Award-winning restaurants), professional sports across all four major leagues, world-class golf, Sonoran desert hiking, the Saguaro National Park unit (30 minutes east via the Superstitions), and easy access to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and the rest of the stunning Arizona plateau country.
Must Eat
The spots worth eating at before you PCS out.
Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix)
"The most acclaimed pizza in America. Chris Bianco invented modern artisan pizza."
Chris Bianco opened Pizzeria Bianco in 1994 in downtown Phoenix and received the first solo James Beard Award for a pizza chef in history. The wood-fired pizzas (Rosa — red onion, rosemary, parmesan, pistachio; Wiseguy — wood-roasted onion, smoked mozzarella, fennel sausage) use house-made mozzarella and Bianco's obsessive tomato curation.
The Heritage Square location has table service. The Town & Country location has shorter waits.
Little Miss BBQ (Phoenix)
"Smoked brisket in the Texas style. The best BBQ in Arizona."
Little Miss BBQ uses post-oak smoke and Texas techniques to produce Central Texas-style brisket in Phoenix — lean brisket, fatty brisket, house sausage, and the sides you'd expect. Opens at 11am, sells out. Go early.
Outdoor
Get outside. The land around military installations is usually the best reason to be there.
Camelback Mountain
"Phoenix's signature hike. Steep, rocky, and rewarding."
Camelback Mountain in the middle of Scottsdale/Phoenix has two trails — the Echo Canyon Trail (1.2 miles one way, steep and technical in places) and the Cholla Trail (1.5 miles, slightly easier). Both reach the 2,704-foot summit with 360-degree Phoenix metro views. Go before 8am in summer.
Phoenix heat kills people on Camelback. Bring 1 liter of water per person per hour. Start at dawn in summer.
Culture & History
Places with stories. Most military towns sit on deep history — dig in.
Heard Museum (Phoenix)
"The finest museum of Native American art and history in the Southwest."
The Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix has one of the world's finest collections of Native American art — Navajo textiles, Hopi kachina figures, Southwest pottery, and a comprehensive exhibition covering the Indian boarding school era. The permanent "HOME: Native People in the Southwest" gallery is essential.
Family
Stuff to do with the kids. Rated by people who have brought actual children.
Phoenix Zoo
"One of the largest non-profit zoos in the US."
The Phoenix Zoo spans 125 acres with strong Africa, Tropics, and Arizona Trail exhibits. The Safari Train allows coverage of the full zoo without walking in summer heat. The October/November Nights of Wonder light installation is exceptional.
Day Trips
When you need to remember there's a world outside the gate.
"Red rock country. Vortex sites, hiking, and the most photogenic landscape in Arizona."
Sedona's red rock formations (Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Chapel of the Holy Cross) make it one of the most photographed landscapes in the US. The Oak Creek Canyon drive from Flagstaff is spectacular. Slide Rock State Park (a natural sandstone water slide on Oak Creek) is the best family attraction in the region.
"It warrants every cliché."
The Grand Canyon South Rim is 230 miles north on I-17 to AZ-64. The view from the South Rim is one of the genuinely disorienting visual experiences in the world — the human brain cannot process the scale. The Bright Angel Trail descends 4,460 feet to the Colorado River. Book a cabin or mule trip months ahead.
Phoenix summer heat is genuinely dangerous. Outdoor activities (hiking, running) should happen before 8am or after 6pm May–September.
The West Valley (Luke's area) is less expensive and more family-oriented than Scottsdale/Paradise Valley.
Scottsdale's Old Town is the best restaurant and bar district in the metro area for weekend evenings.
Phoenix has 300+ days of sunshine per year. The light in winter (December–February) is extraordinary — the low sun angle hits the Sonoran desert perfectly.
The Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson (100 miles south) has the largest aircraft collection of any private museum in the world.
Phoenix summer is not an exaggeration. Phoenix in August is a public safety environment — people die. Acclimatize carefully, never hike without water, and don't underestimate the heat.
This guide is built by people who've been stationed here. If there's a spot we got wrong or a gem we missed, tell us.