Lake, Preserve, Farm - oh my!
This weekend I did 3 fun things:
1 - Took the Desert Belle paddleboat cruise on Saguaro Lake
2 - Walked around the Riparian Preserve
3 - Picked organic Peaches on Schnepf Farm
I highly recommend them all!
The boat cruise began at 12:30pm and lasted 90 min. It was narrated with fun facts about Arizona and the lake by the very entertaining (in a good way) Captain Mike. I recommend you bring sunscreen, some dollars to buy cold water on the boat, and a camera to capture moments like a bald eagle eating a fish in the canyon cliffs! Saguaro Lake is about 30 minutes drive from Gilbert, AZ. The scenic drive is half the fun! There is also a restaurant at the marina that looks like something I’d like to try next time.
The Riparian Preserve is a free nature and animal preserve located at Greenfield & Guadalupe Rd in Gilbert, AZ. There are many man-made water lakes that make it a favorite spot for bird watchers. You can walk the nature trails, fish, take wonderful pictures, try to spy feral kitties in the bushes and learn about this special habitat. It is directly behind the wonderful Gilbert Library too!
Schnepf Farm is a farm ran by a local family in Queen Creek, AZ. It is about a 30 min drive from the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert. Each year they have a Peach Pickin’ Festival with a Peach Pancake Breakfast and hayrides out to the orchard to pick your own peaches. We got out to the farm at 8:30am on Sunday to beat the heat but the line for the Pancakes was already 75 people deep so we had breakfast elsewhere. We picked our peaches (this goes by fast) for $1.75 per pound. $2 admission to the Peach Festival - there is live music, a small craft fair and jams/butter/spreads/salsa made from farm fruits available to purchase. Three couples shared 1 box of peaches that we picked - they are organic so they bruise easy and spoil quickly - so be ready to eat your tasty peaches that week!
Hope you found these insights to the 3 activities helpful. Feel welcome to post a comment with your own thoughts about each event! - Becky Wyatt
Tags: gilbert arizona, riparian preserve, saguaro lake, schnepf farm, things to do in AZ
June 14th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
It’s a surprise for our guests to see a lake in the middle of the desert. We have a boat but don’t go out on the weekends because of the crowds. I’m not sure if there is still the ride-along program with the Sheriff’s Dept. at Saguaro Lake. It was very informative to ride around with them. I learned a lot about what’s going on at the lake and how careful I need to be as a boater. It’s scary how many people are renting personal watercrafts and don’t have a clue about the rules of the lake. The lake is about 10 min. from our house.
We also enjoy Canyon Lake. If you haven’t been there, the drive is beautiful.