Being bored in the “Valley of the Sun” is impossible. Located in the bustling Northwest Salt River Valley, this area offers scenic beauty, miles of natural parkland, picturesque lakes, and a wide variety of activities, events, and attractions for every interest. The town of Surprise lives up to its name, providing a small town feel with big city amenities-like the 180-acre Surprise Recreation Campus with everything from walking parks to water parks.

Surrounding towns, cities, and metropolitan areas offer a unique mix of culture, shopping, and attractions ranging from the Southwest to the Old West.

Shopping

The Westgate City Center is the area’s new mall, featuring a wide variety of large retail and name brand stores. Other large metropolitan malls include The Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale and the Desert Sky Mall in Phoenix.

Glendale is known as the antique capital of the Southwest and features a cozy historic downtown with a variety of antique stores and exclusive boutiques. Peoria’s revitalized downtown area offers charming little shops and specialty stores. Phoenix, Tempe, and Tucson offer diverse shopping districts for the hip and trendy or active cowboys and cowgirls. The entire valley area features great villages and towns to explore, each with their own distinct ambience.

Recreation

Whether you want to stay close to home, or you’re in a mood to roam, there’s always something to do when you live in the valley. Surprise hosts a variety of activities and festivals throughout the year, including the annual “Surprise Party,” a weekend-long, citywide celebration.

The Surprise Recreation Campus offers residents access to a 37-acre community park, five-acre fishing lake, 17-court tennis complex, and an impressive aquatic center with pools, waterfalls, and waterslides. This is where local sports teams not only come out to play ball, but have fun munching on peanuts as they watch the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers during spring training. Speaking of baseball, Chase Field in Phoenix is home to the Arizona Diamondbacks, winners of the 2001 World Series. Additional sports stadiums and concert arenas include the Jobing.com Arena and the University of Phoenix Stadium, both in Glendale; and Phoenix’s Cricket Pavilion and US Airways Center.

If golf is your passion, you are in fairway heaven here with dozens of courses located within an easy drive. In fact, this region is known as one of the best golf destinations in the world! For those who prefer the sound of engines zooming around the track, the Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale is a great place to spend a day at the races.

You could easily spend half a lifetime exploring Arizona’s great outdoors by highway, backcountry road, or backpack. Hiking, biking, and horseback riding are available at dozens of regional and state parks including White Tank Mountain Regional Park-with its own desert waterfall-and Tonto National Forest. In Peoria, the Lake Pleasant Regional Park offers scenic overlooks of Lake Pleasant, a 10,000-acre lake where you can camp, boat, fish, or swim for a day or a week!

At the nearby Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park, you can go on an African safari by train, explore the Outback by boat, or ride the sky rail and get a bird’s eye view of the grounds. The Phoenix Zoo is another fantastic venue for animal lovers.

Dude ranches are another great way to experience the Old West in Arizona. Most offer horseback rides through scenic desert backlands, fireside cookouts, and even cattle drives.

Medical

Exceptional medical facilities in the area include Arrowhead Community Hospital in Glendale, Boswell Memorial Hospital in Sun City, Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital in Sun City West, Maryvale Hospital Medical Center in Phoenix, Samaritan West Valley Health Center in Goodyear, the Surprise Senior Center, and USAF Luke Hospital.

Transportion

You are centrally located to a variety of airports, including Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX), and Phoenix Goodyear Airport.

Schools

Festival Foothills and the Wickenburg School District are excited to announce the opening of our brand new K-8 onsite neighborhood school! At Festival Foothills Elementary we take pride in educating our students and foster a great learning environment with small classroom sizes and the best teachers in the area.

Festival Foothills Elementary also provides convenient before and after school programs as well as a brand new pre-school program.

The Wickenburg School District #9 (928-668-5350) offers nationally recognized educational and extra-curricular programs. Other area schools include Vulture Peak Middle School (928-684-6700); and Wickenburg High School (928-864-6600).

Utilities

Utility companies serving this community include:

Cox Digital Services, including Cox Digital Cable, Cox Digital Telephone and Cox High Speed Internet (623-748-8957) or (800-957-7250) www.coxnewhome.com

APS for electric (623-975-5734)

Southwest Gas for gas (602-861-1999)

Town of Buckeye Utility Department for water    (623-386-4691)

Worship

Area places of worship include The Church at Sun Valley located within the community, White Tanks Southern Baptist Church; Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, WELS; Parkway Christian Church; Rancho Gabriela Community Church; Oasis Baptist Church; and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.