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| - I was extremely disappointed by our visit here. The other reviewers make it sound like a unknown verdant hiking trail exists in the middle of the city just waiting to be discovered. My first thought once we got down to the desolate, trash riddled, dry river bed was "I can't believe everyone is raving about this place on Yelp. Are they insane?" By the end of our little excursion, I did at least understand what the other reviewers were talking about, though I would never, ever even consider giving the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area five stars. It falls way short of the Rillito River Park in Tucson in terms of an arroyo-side jogging/biking trail, the educational aspects of it are in disrepair, and as a place for hiking or nature watching activities there are just so many other better options in the Phoenix area I don't know why you would bother coming here. But I can see what they are trying to do here, and I do applaud them for it. So, plus one star for setting up this park so that Phoenicians can get a taste of what this area would look like if we didn't all live here.
I strongly recommend that you do not park at any of the lots along the western or eastern edges of the trail. There is nothing to see there. Don't bother with it unless you live close by need somewhere to walk your dog (and your dog doesn't mind walking on concrete and rocks, there are no grass or tress at all). Instead, if you are just coming for a visit or with some out of town guests, park at the lot on the north east side of the bridge on Central Ave or at the audubon center on the southeast side. That is where the water and access to nature trails are. My husband and I parked on the northern side which has the higher ground so you are not at the bottom of the river bed but you do get a great view looking out over it. The first thing you see from the parking lot is a large man-made fish pond which is apparently filled with water from a large drainage pipe. I'm not sure where that water comes from, if it is diverted from the canal or just filled from "the tap". The trail begins with lots of cacti and mesquite trees and other native plants. The prickly pears were in bloom when we went and so that was very beautiful to see. It looks like they really put some effort into providing some shade and seclusion but along one side of the main trail there is a large warehouse or factory surrounded by lots of pavement and a huge chain link fence. So you never really get away from the city. It was really ugly. From there the trail branches off and you can go down to a little waterfall area (again, not sure where that water is coming from) and also a lookout point with shaded bench as well as a trail that loops around a large pond. This one appears to be natural (no concete liner) and may be fed by the river itself. There were a lot of birds around and we saw a few quail, which was cool. I also saw one jackrabbit and what may or may not have been a beaver. All in all, quite a lot of nature for being in the middle of the city. The cottonwoods were in full bloom (is that what you call it when they spread their seeds?) so the trails were covered by so much white fuzz that it almost looked like it was snowing. It was very surreal. This section of the park was really pleasant and I probably would return if I lived in the area but I'm not sure if it's worth going out of your way for.
I grew up near the Santa Cruz River in southern AZ and like the Salt River it was completely dry for part of the year but there was still a lot of riparian plant and animal life that was able to tap into the underground water supply or store up water from the rainy season. Rivers in the desert go thru natural cycles and their flow varies greatly throughout the year. The Rio Salado habitat restoration area reminded me a lot of my old little section of the Santa Cruz so it felt comfortably familiar but still at the same time made me a little sad to see what happens to a river when the water is overused by humans. This park is almost entirely man-made. They obviously had to bring in more water since the Salt River no longer flows thru Phoenix no matter how much rain fell up north in a given year since it is all diverted for CAP water. I am not sure what is the point of cultivating this nature in the middle of an area that is so obviously hostile toward it (what happens to those quail if they waddle up to Central Ave just feet away?). But it is a great educational experience for kids or someone not from the desert southwest who has never seen an arroyo up close and who is too lazy to actually drive outside of Phoenix to see it.
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