Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for June 27, 2024. This week we’re featuring a state park named for one of the most popular natural waterslides in the US.
Slide Rock State Park
Location
Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona, United States
Claim to fame
Slide Rock State Park is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Arizona and regularly makes national lists of favorite water holes and slides. It is part of the network of protected recreational areas along Oak Creek. The park is nestled in Oak Creek Canyon, famed for its red rock formations.
Reason to visit
Slide Rock State Park is named for its natural waterslide, which is its most popular attraction. The slide is a chute 80 feet long and 2.5 to 4 feet wide, with a downward slant of 7%. It was carved into the sandstone by the waters of Oak Creek, and its algae-coated rocks provide a slippery ride to the bottom. This stretch of the creek is open for swimming and provides welcome relief from the Arizona heat.
Wild Fact
Within this desert park is a working apple orchard. Frank Pendley and his family homesteaded the site in the early 1900s and constructed an irrigation system that is still used by the park today. His ingenious use of water allowed him to grow a productive apple orchard as well as other crops and livestock. The park today oversees 300 apple trees and hosts a harvest festival each fall.
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