Entertainment
Cultural and recreational opportunities abound in Scottsdale, Ariz., and the greater Phoenix area. Arizona is home to 20 Native American reservations and borders the Mexican state of Sonora. This proximity richly colors the history, current culture and foods of Arizona.
Phoenix and its surrounding communities offer a broad spectrum of entertainment, recreational and educational opportunities in the arts, history, sports and nature.
Art, music and culture
The Phoenix area is home to the Phoenix Art Museum, Desert Botanical Garden, Musical Instrument Museum and Heard Museum (Native American art and history). Diverse musical venues and art enclaves also can be found throughout the metropolitan area.
Scottsdale is one of the world's foremost art communities and features more than 120 art galleries. The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts hosts exhibits, music and dance performances, live adult and children's theater, and outdoor concerts and festivals year-round.
Shopping
Scottsdale has more than 2,500 retail shops, ranging from specialty boutiques to major department stores.
Sports and outdoor recreation
Sports fans will find collegiate and professional football, basketball, baseball and hockey teams in the Phoenix area. The area hosts the Fiesta Bowl and Insight Bowl in college football and is home to the Arizona State University sports teams. The Phoenix metro area is also the spring training site for many Major League Baseball teams.
Outdoor recreational opportunities are plentiful in a state where more than 50 percent of lands are public. There are approximately 100 golf courses in the Phoenix area, several of which are stops on the PGA Tour. Arizona also has a nationally recognized park system, tennis courts, and miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails.
The Scottsdale campus is close to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and Tonto National Forest. It's also within a five-hour drive of many national landmarks and natural areas, including Grand Canyon National Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum and Mexican beaches on the Sea of Cortez. Several lakes just east of Scottsdale are popular destinations for weekend fishing and boating.
Regional attractions include rafting in the Grand Canyon and snow skiing two hours away, near Flagstaff, Ariz. Various vacation opportunities are nearby in California, Nevada, Mexico and the ski resorts of northern Arizona and the western Rocky Mountains.
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