It can be hard to keep up with your exercise regime when on the road. That’s not a problem in Phoenix. The city is host to Ability360, a huge accessible sports and fitness center (one of only two of its kind in the U.S.). The 62,000-square-foot facility includes wheelchair accessible weight machines that allow users to pull up to the machines (the Cybex Total Access line) without needing to transfer, an aquatic area – complete with lap pool and spa – equipped with lifts and elevators and accessible locker rooms. There is also an extensive class program, an indoor running track and a thirty-six foot climbing wall. Visitors and tourists are welcome to use the facilities.

Parking: On-site accessible parking.

Public Transportation: Bus #1 to Washington St – 48th Street and 51st Street (1-minute walk).

Top Tip: Your first workout is free! If you prefer to watch other people playing sports rather than getting out of breath yourself, check out some of the many sports team that practice at Ability360 Sports & Fitness Center, including wheelchair rugby, power soccer, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair lacrosse.

Find out more here.

Unleash your inner musician with a visit to the Musical Instrument Museum. The museum has more than 6,600 on display from some 200 countries and territories. Using state-of-the-art technology, visitors can check out the instruments, hear their sounds and watch them played in their original contexts. Once you’ve had your fill of watching others performing, head over to the Experience Gallery and make some music of your own before exploring instruments from some of the biggest names in music in the Artist Gallery.

The museum is wheelchair accessible. The museum offers complimentary wheelchairs on a first-come, first-served basis.

An assistive listening system is available upon request from guest services.

Transcripts are available for all videos with English-language singing and minor narration. Captioning is provided on videos with instructive narration.

Email the museum at least a week prior to your visit to make additional accessibility requests.

Parking: Free on-site parking.

Public Transportation: Bus #44 to Tatum Blvd and Mayo Blvd (8-minute walk).

Find out more here.

Top Tip: We all love kids and musical instruments – but not necessarily together. If you are looking to explore in relative quiet, avoid mornings which are the most popular times for field trips.

There’s a whole lotta science at the Arizona Science Center, with over 300 hands-on exhibits spread over levels (not to mention a state-of-the-art planetarium and a five-story-high giant screen theater). Walk through a giant “working” stomach (complete with digestive sights, sounds and smells…), learn about aviation in the American Airlines Flight Zones (hopefully you won’t be delayed) and explore renewable energy from around the world in the Solarville exhibit.  

The Arizona Science center is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs can be borrowed (valid ID required) from the Information Zone desk on Level 1 of the main building at CREATE’s front desk.

Accessible restrooms are available on the first and third floors of the building. Unisex or companion-assisted restrooms are available near the main lobby between the gift shop and the membership desk.

CREATE at Arizona Science Center has one main restroom located in the lobby, approximately 20 feet from the information desk.

Wheelchair and companion seating is available in the Giant Screen Theater with access from the second floor. Six wheelchair accessible spaces are available.

Closed captioning, amplified audio and descriptive audio is available for most Giant Screen films. Ask at the information desk or when making ticket reservations.

Wheelchair and companion seating is available in the Dorrance Planetarium.

Sign language interpreters can be arranged with at least a week’s notice.

Call the Arizona Science Center on 602-716-2000 with any questions or queries about accessibility or to arrange interpreters.

Parking: There are 24 accessible parking spaces in the Heritage Square parking garage located on 5^th Street and Monroe St for vehicles up to 6 feet 8 inches tall.

Public Transportation: Bus #1 and #7 to 7^th Street and Washington St (2-minute walk) or 3^rd Street/Washington Light Rail Station (4-minute walk).

Find out more here.

Top Tip: Get your parking ticket validated at the Information Zone, General Admission and Membership Zone to enjoy discounted parking.

One thing Arizona is not short of is desert, but where at first glance it appears there is very little that can grow in this harsh environment, the Desert Botanical Garden shows just how much nature can adapt to the most difficult circumstances. Explore over 50,000 plants, spread out on 55 acres of grounds in a variety of environments including a herb garden, agave yucca forest, and a cactus and a butterfly garden, and see just how the desert is blooming.

The garden is accessible. Wheelchairs and ECVs can be rented at the SRP Visitor’s Center on a first-come, first-served basis.

Parking: Free on-site parking.

Public Transportation: Bus # 56 to Desert Botanical Garden stop (5-minute walk).

Find out more here.

Top Tip: The garden is free on Community Day, which is the second Tuesday of every month.

Billed as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, superlatives do not do justice to the immense grandeur of this space. More than a mile deep, 18 miles from rim-to-rim and 250 miles long, the Grand Canyon is a must-see. Hiking trails, mule trains, helicopter tours and guided shuttle buses are all available. The South Rim never closes – visit any time of day, 365 days a year. The North Rim closes from October through May. The Grand Canyon is a four-hour drive from Sky Harbor and absolutely worth the trip. Lodging within the park books months to years in advance, so plan accordingly.

Even a few hours at the Canyon is worth the ride. The terrain is rugged, so people in manual wheelchairs may not be able to explore very far. The bus tours are wheelchair accessible and some of the daily Interpretive Ranger Tours offer access. The Scenic Drive Accessibility Permit is often the best option for wheelchair users. It allows visitors to travel into areas that are off-limits to other private vehicles to enjoy the best scenic areas. The permit is available at park gift shops and entrance gates.

Fees: Vehicle permits are good for seven days and include all passengers -  $35. Admission is free on certain federal holidays – check the park website for details. Additional fees for camping and cabins apply.

If Arizona is wondering where all its water went, we have the answer: the OdySea Aquarium! The massive aquarium – the largest in the Southwest – houses over 500 species (that’s some 30,000 animals) in 50 exhibits. And all those exhibits need water – more than 2 million gallons! From the Aqua Lobby, where nine massive globe-shaped aquariums hang from the ceiling, to the 37-foot-long touch pool, this isn’t a visit to your average aquarium; it’s a real odyssey.

The aquarium is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs can be borrowed on a first-come, first-served basis from the Concierge Desk in the Aqua Lobby.

The aquarium is part of larger mega entertainment complex OdySea in the Desert which includes Pangea Land of the Dinosaurs, Bodies Revealed, Butterfly Wonderland and Dolphinaris, an opportunity to swim with dolphins. Dolphinaris offers an access lagoon, and the other marquis attractions are accessible. The complex is home to 20 additional restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues all positioned around a one-acre central courtyard which often features free entertainment.

Parking: Free on-site parking

Find out more here.

Top Tip: OdySea has scheduled entry times. Buy your ticket online in advance to reserve your preferred entry time. Speak to the concierge to learn what is especially interesting on the day of your visit. Look for special pricing packages.

The Children’s Museum of Phoenix is billed as one of the top three children’s museums in the country. Designed for kids aged 0-10, there are over 300 open-ended play experiences for seeing, touching and interacting. The museum also has trained playologists to help visitors get the most out of their visit. Don’t think that your kid is too young to get something out of the museum. There is a special zone for tots aged three and younger that is designed specifically for the littlest ones, so there’s no need to be worried about them being trampled by older kids.

The museum is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs and ASL interpreters can be provided with advanced notification.

There is seating throughout the museum.

Navigation is bilingual and embossed in braille.

Call 602-253-0501 x 0 for any questions about accessibility.

Parking: Free on-site parking.

Public Transportation: Bus #1, #3 and #7 to Van Buren and 7th Street (2-minute walk).

Find out more here.

Top Tip: Don’t feel you have to see everything at once. Get a hand stamp and you can leave and re-enter the museum on the same day if all that playtime becomes too much. 

If you have only one day to explore the breadth and beauty of the Sonoran Desert, this is the place. Located just west of Tucson, the museum is nearly 100 acres of zoo, art gallery, aquarium and hiking trail. Most of the exhibits are outdoors, plan accordingly in the summer months. The museum is open every day of the year and offers extended evening hours from May through September.

The museum provides a breathtaking glimpse of the diversity of the Sonoran ecosystem through two miles of hiking trails, an extensive collection of plants and animals, a vast collection of local fossils, gems and minerals displayed in the Earth Sciences Center. The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is a local partner with federal recovery programs working to preserve endangered indigenous species such as the Mexican gray wolf and thick-billed parrot.

Parking: Free.

Top Tip: Most of the exhibit space is located outdoors, take advantage of the cooler parts of the day for your visit. Make sure to see the live animal presentations throughout the day and take advantage of the interpretive orientation tours, both are free. Refillable water stations have replaced the sale of plastic water bottles, so make sure to bring your own bottle. Complimentary sunscreen dispensers can be found in the restrooms.

You can’t come all the way to Arizona and not get out into nature. While it may not have the most attractive name, the beauty of Dead Horse Ranch State Park more than makes up for its odd moniker and is well worth driving a couple of hours out of Phoenix to experience. Situated on the banks of the Verde River, the park is home to over 180 species of birds, great fishing (the pools are kept stocked with rainbow trout and channel catfish and there are also largemouth bass, catfish and crappie) and great trails. 

The Canopy Trail is accessible and provides birding and wildlife viewing opportunities.

There are accessible restrooms in the day use areas and in the camping loops. The cabin area has family-style accessible restrooms with hot showers.

The park has accessible picnic tables throughout the ramada (roofed structure) areas.

The fishing piers are accessible.

Parking: On-site parking.

Find out more here.

Top Tip: Don’t worry. There are no dead horses here! The name dates back to the 1940s when the Ireys family traveled to Arizona from Minnesota looking for a ranch to buy. When the kids were asked which of the many properties they had liked the best, they answered “the one with the dead horse” and the name stuck (probably much like the smell…).

We admit it, Kartchner Caverns State Park is also quite a way outside Phoenix (about two and a half hours drive), but it’s well worth a visit. The main draw of the park is the extensive caverns with their draw-dropping speleothems, or cave formations. Too often, caverns and caves are not accessible, but that’s not the case here, which makes a visit to Kartchner Caverns State Park even more special.

Most above ground and below ground areas on the park are accessible, except for the hiking trails.

The cave is accessible by wheelchair and scooter. All cave trails include switchback curves, inclines and declines and some grades of up to 12 percent.

Most of the cave trails have rest areas at regular intervals along the way. Tours have periodic stops. For anyone who finds the steepness too much, benches are located next to the steeper incline/decline routes to allow visitors to avoid those areas, but still enjoy the program.

Most motorized and manual wheelchairs may be used in the cave; however, they should have a seat width of 18” or less and an overall width of 30”. There are wheelchairs available to borrow if necessary (valid ID required).

Motorized wheelchairs should be electrically powered and have a closed cell battery. Wheelchairs should have functioning brakes capable of parking on an incline/decline.

Motorized scooters are allowed on tours but due to the dimensions of the trails, some limitations exist. Scooters should have a width of 30” or less and a total length of 40” or less.

Crutches and walkers cannot be taken on the tour. Canes with rubber tips and walkers with hand breaks are permitted.

The tram is accessible with ramps at all access points.

Parking: There are 13 accessible parking spaces and two van accessible sites are available in the northeast section of the lot.

Find out more here.

Top Tip: Reserve tour tickets in advance to avoid disappointment.