Nestled within the McDowell Mountain Ranch community is the McDowell Mountain Ranch Park and Aquatic Center. This fabulous facility not only has a 600 foot lazy river, a water slide, lap pool, splash area and diving boards but the park also has ball fields, soccer fields and a skatepark. They also have a fitness center. Anyone can use the facilities although being a Scottsdale resident does get you discounted pricing. The pool offers swimming lessons, water exercise classes, and various events throughout the season. You can even host a birthday party a the “party island”. Best of all, the pools are heated during the fall and winter months so you can swim all year round. This local swimming facility is a great way to beat the summer heat and meet up with some friends to spend an afternoon.
They do offer Summer Family Passes which are good at all four Aquatic Centers (Cactus, Chaparral- currently only hosting lessons and El Dorado are the others) but they are only available for Scottsdale residents.
The Cactus Aquatic Center, located on East Cactus Road and Scottsdale Road is home one to of Scottsdale’s Olympic size, 50 meter heated ( in the fall and winter) pool. This outdoor pool located in North Scottsdale, has 3 diving boards, offers swim lessons and recreation teams as well as competitive swim and dive teams. There is also a fitness facility available for use with various classes like aerobics, boot camp in the park, pilates and much more. You can rent out a one of the 2 ramada areas for events as well. The park area has a playground, basketball courts, and a sand volleyball court. Park hours are from sunrise to 10:30pm and is open to the general public. The pool hours vary depending on schedule of events so check out their calendar.
El Dorado Aquatic Center is another great place to bring the kids and cool off this summer. This outdoor pool is great for the little ones as it has a ”zero depth” entry into the pool making it feel like your at the beach, two large water slides and a water playground. What more could a kid ask for in the middle of the summer! The facility also offers lessons and has a fitness center too. They are offering a great family friendly way to spend a Friday nights, Friday Night Splash! Every Friday from June 8- August 3 the whole family can enjoy the pool till 8:00pm. A great option when the kids are saying they are bored! So grab your sunscreen and towel, and head over to this North Scottsdale local pool and spend the day pool side!
