Phoenix, Arizona

==Parks and recreation==
[[File:Camelback Mountain aerial view.jpg|thumb|[[Camelback Mountain]] is part of the [[Phoenix Mountains]] range]]
Phoenix is home to a large number of parks and recreation areas. The city of Phoenix includes national parks, [[Maricopa County, Arizona|Maricopa County]] parks and city parks. [[Tonto National Forest]] forms part of the city's northeast boundary, while the county has the largest park system in the country.<ref>Sirois 2012, page 195</ref>

The city park system established to preserve the desert landscape in areas that would otherwise have succumbed to development includes [[South Mountain Park]], the world's largest [[municipal park]] with {{convert|16500|acre|km2}}.<ref>Sirois 2012, page 201</ref> The system's 182 parks contain over {{convert|41900|acres|0|abbr=on}}, making it the largest municipal park system in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cloud.tpl.org/pubs/ccpe_CityParkFacts_2010.pdf |publisher=The Trust for Public Land |title=2010 City Park Facts |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102180556/http://cloud.tpl.org/pubs/ccpe_CityParkFacts_2010.pdf |pages=4–9 |archive-date=January 2, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The park system has facilities for hiking, camping, swimming, horseback riding, cycling, and climbing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.phoenix.gov/parks |title=Parks and Recreation Department |publisher=City of Phoenix |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317064657/https://www.phoenix.gov/parks |archive-date=March 17, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some of the system's other notable parks include [[Camelback Mountain]], [[Encanto Park]], [[Phoenix Mountains Preserve]] and [[Sunnyslope Mountain]], also known as "S" Mountain.<ref>Sirois 2012, page 196</ref>

[[Papago Park]] in east Phoenix is home to both the [[Desert Botanical Garden]] and the [[Phoenix Zoo]], in addition to several golf courses and the [[Hole-in-the-Rock (Papago Park)|Hole-in-the-Rock]] geological formation. The Desert Botanical Garden, which opened in 1939, is one of the few public gardens in the country dedicated to desert plants and displays desert plant life from all over the world. The Phoenix Zoo is the largest privately owned non-profit zoo in the United States and is internationally known for its programs devoted to saving endangered species.<ref>Sirois 2012, page 147</ref>