Ride the Scottsdale Trolley for Adventure and Fun

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Is your toddler or preschooler wild about Daniel Tiger? Why, of course they are! Silly me. Which is why riding the Scottsdale Trolley makes for such a fun adventure!  

Scottsdale Trolley

My four-year-old boy happens to love all things related to transportation, and riding the trolley around Downtown Scottsdale is seriously the best thing he could think of doing. I’m going to even go so far as to say that he likes doing that more than he likes riding the rails at the train park. Say what?! You should see how cute he is on board. He has his favorite spot to sit on the upper deck in the back and looks out the window, taking in the sites, pointing out people, other vehicles, and various landmarks we see along the route. He kinda acts like a big shot because he can ride unrestrained. In fact, there’s no requirement for restraining children on the trolley, city bus, or light rail, as long as they remain seated. (Because my 18-month-old is a bit of a wild card, I usually wear him in the good ol’ Ergo Carrier.)  

We like to ride the Downtown Route, catching the trolley at the Main St & Brown stop, right outside the Rusty Spur Saloon. (What? It’s a landmark!) But there are some parking garages along the way that you could park in during the summer months. There’s quite a few spots along the way where you can get off and have a treat, shop, or explore. We have a couple planned excursions that we like to fall back on that I’ll share.  

Excursion A – Get off at the stop in front of Scottsdale Fashion Square and head to the indoor play area and lunch at the food court.  

Excursion B – Get off at the Waterfront Bridge and walk around and stop for lunch at Zoe’s Kitchen. We also like to check out the horse statues.  

Excursion C – Get off at Marshall Way, just south of Indian School and pop into Kaleidoscope Juice for an Acai bowl. This excursion is the quickest of the three.  

Of course, you could always just ride the trolley’s full route. We’ve been known to ride it two full go ’rounds, because it’s just that much fun. And it’s nice to just sit and enjoy the delightful A/C on full blast. Oh, and the trolley isn’t just for fun, but actually a great way to get around South Scottsdale and the Downtown District. The trolley is also a great way to connect to other parts of town & greater Phx via Valley Metro. Here’s a few more tips to know about riding the Scottsdale Trolley. 

  • It’s free! 
  • Operates 7 days a week from 10am-9pm (no service on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day) 
  • Runs every 10 minutes  
  • Each trolley is wheel-chair accessible, air conditioned, and runs on environmental friendly bio-diesel fuel.  

Maps of each route is available on the City of Scottsdale’s website

I hope to see you on the Scottsdale Trolley, Neighbor! 

1 COMMENT

  1. This sounds like a really fun way to share some time. Love that they have stops along the way to get off, snack and shop. Perfect way to spend a little quality time.

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