Papago Park
| Company type | Public park |
|---|---|
| Industry | Recreation, tourism |
| Founded | 1879 (as a reservation) |
| Headquarters | Phoenix and Tempe , United States |
Area served | Phoenix, Arizona; Tempe, Arizona |
| Products | Park facilities, recreational areas, botanical garden, zoo, hiking and biking trails, golf course |
Papago Park () is a city park co-administered by the municipalities of Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona. It is recognized as a Point of Pride in Phoenix and includes significant landmarks such as Hunt's Tomb, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Description
Covering roughly 1,200 acres within Phoenix and an additional 296 acres in Tempe—where it is known as Tempe Papago Park—this park is notable for its distinctive geological features and a variety of desert vegetation, including the iconic saguaro cactus. Among its prominent attractions are the Desert Botanical Garden, the Phoenix Zoo, the Arizona Heritage Center, picnic facilities, small lakes, trails for hiking and biking, a fire museum, and Hunt's Tomb, the pyramid-shaped burial site of Arizona’s inaugural governor, George W. P. Hunt. The Tempe section offers baseball and softball diamonds, picnic ramadas, a small lake, and other recreational facilities. Situated between the Phoenix and Tempe areas is the Rolling Hills Golf Course.[1]
Additionally, Papago Park contains the baseball and softball stadium used by North Pointe Preparatory.
History
The park’s characteristic red sandstone formations—including the famous Hole-in-the-Rock—originated between 6 and 15 million years ago. Archaeological findings indicate that the now-extinct Hohokam people utilized these rock openings along with sunlight to mark the timing of the solstices.
Underlying bedrock of Precambrian granite lies beneath a thin soil layer throughout the area.
Initially designated in 1879 as a reservation for the local Maricopa and Pima tribes, Papago Park was later established as the Papago–Saguaro National Monument in 1914. This designation was revoked by Congress in 1930, resulting in the division of the land among Arizona state, Tempe city, and the Water Users Association (which later became the Salt River Project), while federal mineral rights were retained.
During the Great Depression era, Governor Hunt initiated a bass fish hatchery project in 1932 under the Works Progress Administration. This hatchery successfully introduced species such as largemouth bass into Arizona’s waterways.
In World War II, Papago Park was repurposed as a prisoner-of-war camp from 1942 to 1944, housing up to 3,100 detainees. It was the site of the largest mass breakout from a U.S. POW camp during that conflict—the Great Papago Escape on December 23, 1944—when 25 prisoners tunneled out. Due to their unfamiliarity with desert terrain, most escapees were quickly recaptured; German U-boat commander Jürgen Wattenberg was apprehended last on January 28, 1945.
Following the war, the location served as a Veterans Administration hospital between 1947 and 1951 before becoming an Army Reserve center.
In 1959, Arizona sold its section of Papago Park to Phoenix and subsequently closed the fish hatchery. In 1962, Phoenix leased this hatchery land and its lakes to the Arizona Zoological Society to create what is now known as the Phoenix Zoo. The caretaker’s stone cottage from the hatchery remains part of zoo property after undergoing renovations during the 1990s.
Tempe gained ownership of its portion of Papago Park in 1935; a segment was transferred to the Salt River Project in 1955. Phoenix established an 18-hole championship golf course within its boundaries in 1963.
Papago Park also gained national attention as the final destination for season four of The Amazing Race.
Hunt's Tomb
Situated atop a hill within Papago Park, Hunt's Tomb is a modest white pyramid constructed in 1931 by George W. P. Hunt, who served as Arizona's inaugural governor. Initially, it served as the final resting place for his wife, and following Hunt's passing in 1934, he was also laid to rest there. Additionally, their daughter and members of his wife's family are buried within the tomb.
Papago Ponds
The Ponds span an area of , with an average depth measuring . They are located at an elevation of .
Fish species
Other species
Incidents
In February 2021, Joel Brotherton tragically died after a fall of approximately 30 to 40 feet along Papago Park’s Hole-in-the-Wall trail. Later, in May 2021, the park experienced two separate fatalities: one due to homicide and another resulting from drowning. In November 2024, Phoenix law enforcement initiated a homicide inquiry following the recovery of a body within the park.
See also
- ↑ Papago Park: A History of Hole-in-the-Rock from 1848 to 1995, Pueblo Grande Museum Occasional Papers No. 1, by Jason H. Gart, 1996