Travel Guide: Scottsdale, Arizona, for Rockies spring training
“Take me out to the ballgame,” so the classic singalong goes. But throughout March, the ballgame — if you’re a Colorado fan, that is — calls for a trip to Scottsdale, where the Rockies’ spring training camp takes place.
Even for the most casual Rockies fan (you don’t bleed a jewel-tone purple; maybe a shade of lavender, though?), spring training provides a nice excuse to slip away to the Sonoran Desert and root for the home team in a smaller stadium, snag some autographs, snack on a bacon-wrapped Sonoran Dog and enjoy pool time back at your hotel. Sunny and in the mid-70s, Scottsdale in March provides a nice preview of summer while snow remains in the forecast back home.
Spring training 2023 runs through March 28 with the Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks sharing a home field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. (See the full schedule of games at mlb.com/rockies/schedule/). For those looking for a quick getaway, Frontier, Southwest, United and American Airlines are among the carriers that offer non-stop flights between Denver International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which is a short 15-minute Uber ride from Scottsdale. Flight times between the destinations are under two hours.
Beyond baseball, though, this Arizona hotspot has an impressive arts scene, some cool mid-century architecture and cacti-studded hikes that provide a change of scenery on the trails.
Here’s how to root for the home team and also enjoy a springtime getaway in Scottsdale.
Cheering for the Rockies
The Rockies are a part of the Cactus League, which is made up of 15 major league teams that combined play more than 200 games across the greater Phoenix area during the month-long spring training camp. All of the league’s ballparks are within a 45-minute radius from each other meaning it’s as easy to catch a game as it is a fly ball.
The Rockies’ home-away-from-home field is Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, a former golf course that’s a smidge outside of Scottsdale’s city limits and that comes with views of five mountain ranges, including Camelback Mountain and the McDowell Mountains. The ballpark’s seating capacity is 11,000, which is about one-fifth of the crowd that Coors Field can accommodate. Near first base, the ballpark’s garden grows veggies and herbs for concessionaires to incorporate into game day snacks.
Fill up before or after the game at Braut Haus in Old Town Scottsdale. The beer garden serves a Sonoran Dog that’s generously topped with beans, bacon, cheese, onion and tomatoes as well as sausages you can gussy up with accouterments like sweet onion jam, sauerkraut and dill relish. Diego Pops also has a bacon-wrapped Sonoran Dog on the menu alongside tacos, margs, street corn and paletas.
Inside Salt River Fields, fans will find a Rockies team shop stocked with T-shirts, hats and other purple, silver, white and black gear. The stadium also has ballpark eats, including berry kabobs, mustache-shaped soft pretzels, tacos, Cactus Corn popcorn, and, of course, hot dogs.
The spring training stadium has some fun traditions for families, too, like a Wiffle Ball Field where kids can take part in their own batting practices. Following every Sunday game, baseball-loving kids can line up between sections 204 and 205 and run the bases like they’re in the major leagues.
Single-game spring season tickets start at $20 for lawn seats.
Worth noting: The Rockies won’t be in Scottsdale on March 18-19; they’ll be playing a couple of spring games in Las Vegas those days.
Where to stay
Looking for a home base while in Scottsdale? The city boasts a fun hotel scene appealing to design lovers, pool enthusiasts, spa-goers, golfers and baseball fans alike. March is a busy season in the area, with nightly hotel rates reflecting the peak season.
Spanish Revival architecture meets Old Havana at The Scott Resort & Spa (March rates starting at $369 a night), a mission-style boutique hotel outfitted with rattan chairs, botanical wallpapers, Bauhaus-inspired chandeliers, Spanish tiles, lagoon-like pools and a Caribbean restaurant serving ceviche and poolside cocktails in coconuts.
A stay at the modernist Mountain Shadows Resort (March rates starting at $494 a night) comes with front-row views of Camelback and Mummy mountains, which cast their silhouettes on the resort each afternoon. Sunset is celebrated with champagne sabering on Fridays, plus the resort has a golf course, two 75-long pools and lots of wellness programming.
Hotel Valley Ho (March rates starting at $449 a night) is a colorful, contemporary hotel with mid-century-modern bones (take a 90-minute Hollywood history tour of the hotel) and an on-site restaurant called Zuzus that’s known for its over-the-top milkshakes that change monthly. March’s café con leche shake is a tribute to the pastry chef’s home country of Argentina, and it comes with toppings like a sea salt chocolate bark and chocolate-covered espresso beans.
W Scottsdale (March rates starting at $499 a night) is offering a Triple Play Spring Training package that comes with a baseball hat and sunglasses, a bucket of four local beers and salty snacks. Spa lovers can book a hammam experience and more treatments at the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia or enjoy the hydrotherapy circuit before a massage at Civana Wellness Resort & Spa.
What else to do
Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve is the largest urban preserve in the country with more than 30,500 protected acres and roughly 225 miles of recreational trails. Set an alarm and sneak in an early hike and you’ll be rewarded with a sunrise over the desert.
The Lost Dog Wash hike is a 5-mile, out-and-back trip with a slight 380-foot elevation gain that provides views of Camelback Mountain and a glimpse of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West. One of the area’s defining plants, the saguaro cacti, is a slow grower that’s pollinated by bats and gains a foot every decade. In the spring, white flowers start to bloom on its prickly spines.
Scottsdale is also a well-known destination for art lovers, with dozens of public art pieces on display throughout the city. Some notable ones include a cherry red LOVE sculpture and the Knight Rise skyspace installation at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art that’s a curvaceous architectural piece lined with concrete benches. A circular cutout in the ceiling allows light to pour in and change colors, most dramatically at sunrise and sunset, playing a trick on the eye.
Old Town Scottsdale is also packed with art galleries (40 of them are packed in a two-block area), and weekly Thursday evening ArtWalks allow art lovers and collectors to mingle with artists. If you’re in town on a Saturday, head to the farmers market where more than 100 local growers sell everything from freshly baked artisan breads and jam to tamales and fruits and veggies.
Just a reminder: Be sure to get back home by April 6 when the Rockies play their home opener against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field.
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