Trip date: November 16-19, 2022 This post is sponsored by Visit Mesa.
I was stoked when Visit Mesa reached out with a 4-day itinerary with activities that included horseback riding, UTVing, water rafting, and hitting up some of the best restaurants and cafes that Mesa, Arizona has to offer! This Cali girl had no idea that such activities were so far out in the desert! Here’s a peek at our itinerary!
📌 Day 1: Check-in @ Saguaro Lake Ranch, Yoga, Lunch & Bonfire
We are arriving at Saguaro Lake Ranch, just about a 40-min drive from the Phoneix airport. After check-in, we met with Donna from Party Yoga Live on the front lawn at the ranch. It’s mid-November and the temperature is beautifully warm. Upper 60’s to low 70’s! There are limited views of the Salt River in front of the yoga practice, making it such a peaceful place to wind down and get in a good stretch after our flights to Arizona.
The 60-min yoga session with Donna felt amazing! Even as a total beginner, I felt I was able to understand her instruction and she made me feel as if I was flowing with the group. It was great. After yoga, we had some time to explore the ranch at our leisure, but a few of the ladies had plans to go catch a glimpse at the wild horses at a nearby park. I stayed to unpack, reorganize, and snap some self-shots while no one else was around.
The crew arrived back right before sunset and we all enjoyed delicious sandwiches from Kneader’s Bakery. Sunset at Saguaro Lake Ranch is absolutely amazing this time of year and views of the Bulldog Cliffs can be seen from a very far distance. Once the sun had set, the fantastic staff at the ranch started a bonfire. We picked up a bottle of wine, and a s’mores kit and the beginning of a beautiful extended weekend with 5 random strangers begins.
📌 Day 2: Early morning Horseback Riding, 90-min Dolly Steamboat Nature Cruise, Lunch @ Tortilla Flat Saloon, Goldfield Ghost town, Dinner @ Postino’s Wine Cafe
Waking up at Saguaro Lake Ranch was the perfect way to start the day, but I’d have to say that the early morning horseback riding was the cherry on top. Many activities were planned for this day, but it didn’t even take 10-mins before I shed a happy, grateful-for-this-exact-moment tear, or three, but I did sob a little on 101. What’s 101 you ask? My horse. 🥰 Our guide assigned us each a horse’s name so we knew which horse we were riding that morning.
Who knew horseback riding would make you so hungry?! Gratefully, the kitchen at the ranch had prepared a late breakfast for our group and everyone was able to enjoy a delicious warm breakfast. With a quick outfit change, we were en route to The Apache Trail. The Apache Trail is a drivable road that allowed us to get on board The Dolly Steamboat at Canyon Lake. Have you ever been on a steamboat? 🚢
The 90-minute nature cruise was really scenic! Canyon Lake is absolutely beautiful and I could only imagine how busy it gets in the summer! On our cruise, we saw a baby bald eagle and about a dozen big horn sheep! It was fun getting dressed up for this cruise, although make sure to bring a jacket this time of year (mid-November) even though the sun is out, the wind can get a bit chilly.
After our nature cruise on the Dolly Steamboat, we heard amazing things about the prickly pear drinks over at Tortilla Flat Saloon, so you bet we made our way there for lunch- it was so good, and a totally neat place to check out! I got a BBQ Chicken Cobb salad that was packed with tons of flavor.
We spent some time checking out Goldfield Ghost Town and that was a pretty neat look at history. A few of us went on a mystery tour and it was pretty trippy! We had some time to get ready for dinner, so we headed back to the ranch to prepare for a night out in Downtown Gilbert.
A favorite restaurant of the trip? Postino’s Wine Cafe! We shared a few bruschetta boards and each of them was absolutely amazing! My favorite was the Sweet & Spicy Pepper Jam & Goat Cheese. 🤤
📌 Day 3: Rafting w/ REI, Lunch @ What’s Crackin, UTV Adventure & Cider Tasting
This morning we checked out of Saguaro Lake Ranch and headed to the Salt River to meet with an REI Adventure Guide for a 90-min rafting trip. It was my first time rafting, so to say I was a bit nervous is an understatement. Thankfully, our guided trip was a Class 1 with zero possibility of falling out or getting wet. We saw tons of wildlife too! The wild horses were my favorite.
After our rafting tour, we departed for lunch at What’s Crackin Cafe. The food smelled amazing from the front door to the cutest outdoor patio. We all tried the Cauliflower Bites and they were soo good. After lunch, we made our way to meet with Stellar Adventures for a 2-hour UTV Tour through Arizona’s Sonoran Desert! It was awesome riding into the sunset with such a rad group! Days later, I’m still finding dirt in some places! LOL. 🌵
We checked in at Home2Suites at Longbow Golf Club and the rooms were amazing! Felt a little out of place arriving in tons of dirt after our UTV Tour, but we had just a short amount of time to shower and get ready for a pub crawl! First stop- Cider Corps for cider tasting and pizza. We got a few flights and I have to say my top two are: Mesarita and the Mango IRA Haze! At our next stop, within walking distance from Cider Corps, we landed at Espiritu Cocktails & Comida for delicious drinks and fun. The cocktail menu itself was an adventure- as the menu is broken up into six chapters! 🍹
We ended our night with a ladies’ night over at Denim & Diamonds, where we had a blast dancing to country music and music of all sorts! It had been a while since the last time I’d gotten out, so this was a nice way to bring our trip to an end.
📌 Day 4: Wind Cave Hike, Lunch @ Agritopia, and Goodbyes
Our last day in Mesa, AZ takes us on a quick hike at the Usery Mountain Nature Center. The Wind Cave trail is 2.6 miles round trip and is rated moderate, with an elevation of ~800ft. Views of Phoenix, Tempe, and surrounding cities can be seen from the cave.
Everyone in our group successfully completed the hike and earned a delicious lunch over at Agritopia! This cute community is an “urban farm” where everything made at Joe’s Farm Grill is served with the same-day harvest providing only the freshest ingredients! I enjoyed a tasty Chicken Ceasar Salad before saying our goodbyes and making our separate ways back home.
