Mesa: Art, Nature and Activities

Mesa offers several distinct focal points for a stay: art and performing arts, natural history, outdoor trails, water activities and regional dining options. If you are considering Mesa as a destination, this variety can help you sort through your interests. Cultural offerings range from museum galleries to stage productions; outdoor activities include a choice of trails and water-based options.

Art, Performing Arts and Museums

The Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum at the Mesa Arts Center is free to visit and features five exhibition galleries. The Mesa Arts Center is considered Arizona’s largest and most comprehensive arts campus. Throughout the year, the center hosts national touring productions, including classical concerts, Broadway productions, comedy and dance shows. This lets you plan for culture in two different ways: through galleries or a specific performance. If a particular production is a deciding factor for your trip, check the event schedule in advance.

The Arizona Museum of Natural History has a collection of nearly 60,000 objects. Dinosaur Mountain features life-size animatronic dinosaurs and simulates a flash flood every 23 minutes. These offer two different points to consider when choosing: the size of the museum’s collection and the exhibit’s engaging dinosaur theme.

Trails and Outdoor Activities

Usery Mountain Regional Park offers more than 29 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. This figure refers to the park’s trail network as a whole, not a single outing. The Merkle Trail in the park is accessible. The Nature Center provides information about the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert, adding a natural history focus to the trails.

The Hawes Loop is a 7.3-mile mountain biking trail with technical terrain and fast, flowing descents. Unlike the broad range of trails at Usery Mountain Regional Park, this is a single route with a specifically described terrain. The distances therefore refer to different things: the trail network of a park versus a particular route.

The Hawes Trail System is a shared-use trail system; cyclists must yield to hikers. If you are planning activities on these trails, this is a rule to keep in mind while you are there.

Water and Regional Food Culture

Water activities in and around Mesa include boating, fishing, rafting, kayaking, water skiing, wakeboarding and jet skiing. Tubing on the Salt River is another option. The range extends from boating and fishing to paddling, board sports and motorized activities.

Mesa’s locally produced food offerings include farms, farmers markets, neighborhood restaurants and outdoor dining. This means that exploring the local food scene is not limited to restaurant visits: farms and markets are also part of it, while outdoor dining offers another format. If local food is important to your trip, you can take these different options into account when planning.

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