Roosevelt Lake & Tonto National Monument With Kids
Arizona Adventures are my favorite! We are currently stationed in southern Arizona and love to travel the desert. Over the weekend my family and I spent some time out on Roosevelt Lake. We decided to be adventurous traveling with a 2 year old and 2 month old! What an adventure it was. This was our first time going anywhere as a family of 4 and we forgot the girls suitcase! Parent fail. So we drove 30 minutes back to the nearest town for clothes! (NOTE: Double check for everybody suitcases before you leave for vacation) haha
We checked into the Roosevelt Resort Park. It was far from a luxury resort but it was very close to the lake. Next time we will definitely be renting a cabin. I will say they did have an onsite bar & grill with a small pond. Our toddler loved the ducks. This was our view from the patio! Oh and they're pet friendly so we got to bring our English Bulldog and little Chihuahua :)
We launched our boat and checked out the Roosevelt Damn. It was gorgeous at sunset! We did some evening fishing while the baby napped and my toddler played in the cabin. I made sure to pack lots of snacks and toys so she’d be entertained. Glow sticks were a huge hit! (I'll be writing a post on how we boat with tots so stayed tuned! )
The next day we planned on checking out Tonto National monument while we were in the area. The Tonto National Monument is a cliff dwelling in the Superstition Mountains where people lived LONG ago. It is a national monument so military are able to get in free with the military national park pass! I believe the entry fee was $5 for adults and 15 years and younger are free so it’s total affordable had we not got in free.
My husband wore our 2month old and our 2 year old was able to walk the paved trail. It was a rather steep but short trail. My toddler trekked the whole way up! They won’t let you do the trail without water. I wore my camelbak with a water bladder for my husband and I and my daughter had her camelbak water bottle. LOVE those things because they’re spill proof! Parent Win! They’re so cute too! Other things we took were:
Hats
Sunglasses
Granola bars
First aid kit
Sunblock
Bug repellent
Diapers
Bottle/Camelbak
Travel wipes
neck cooling towel (They work wonders)
This mom usually brings everything under the sun when we leave anywhere so hiking is no exception! Lol All this fit in my camelbak bag. Can you tell I love their stuff? haha
The views were breathtaking! On our way up there are several scenic views of Roosevelt Lake and the lower cliff dwelling. Saguaros are everywhere. It’s really beautiful. There are a couple of benches and history information to stop and read along the half mile trail. We stopped and drank some water at a couple of stops.
There’s a national park ranger once you get to the dwelling that’s there to give you a little more history about the dwellings and answer any questions that visitors have. The one we met was really nice and knowledgeable about everything. We were able to walk around and see several rooms. I’m really quit fascinated with history so I had a great time. It's a great place to see if you're in the area!
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Overall we had a great time boating on the lake and visiting a piece of history. It wore out my toddler and baby so another win! It was a toddler friendly trail and only a half mile long. It’s a must see if you’re in the area! Til next time yal! =]