As one of the oldest parks in the Valley (built in 1931), Tempe Beach Park has been a long standing gathering place for residents and visitors. Originally it was Arizona’s first Olympic-sized pool which drew the crowds. Today, it’s the Tempe Town Lake and splash park which draw people in the summer months and the concerts and the 5-miles of walking/jogging/bike paths which draw people the rest of the year.

At 25-acres, Tempe Beach Park is also one of the largest in the Valley. Besides the miles of paved paths, the park boasts beautiful picnic areas covered by ingenious solar panels, the Luis Gonzalez Arizona Diamondbacks Field of Dreams baseball diamonds and one of the best splash parks in the area complete with water slides and water spraying toys.

Additionally, the Tempe Town Park plays host to more than 75 events throughout the year including Fourth of July Celebrations, Ironman Arizona, PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, Fall Frenzy and much more!

The Tempe Town Lake was planned in 1989 and completed in 1999 adding an attraction to the area that still remains. In June of 2010 one of the dams to the lake broke leaving the lake drained of more than 2/3^rds of the water. Just over three months later, in October, City Councilmen had solved the problem, the lake was re-filled and water activities on the lake were resumed.

Find out more information as well as scheduled events by visiting http://www.tempe.gov/lake/.

Enjoy these original pictures and videos taken by Phoenix.org staff.

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