Carefree & Cave Creek

CAREFREE & CAVE CREEK
If you are planning on visiting the Phoenix area you might want to consider taking a day trip or two about 20 miles north of Scottsdale proper and visit these two towns. Wrapped deliciously around Black Mountain these towns couldn’t be more different and yet with a great deal of sameness At an altitude of 2568 ft they are cooler than Phoenix, Mesa or Scottsdale ( that is if you think 105 degrees is better than 110 in the summer) and are adjacent to each other. It is easy to get there as 3 major roads head north from Hwy 101 and end in the towns, Cave Creek Road, Scottsdale Road and Pima Road.
CAREFREE, with 2 world class resorts and Spas, The Boulders Resort and The Carefree Resort, has beauty, boulders and the mountain as a backdrop of its opulence. Long a haven of wealth both winter residence and full time retirees this city fights to maintain exclusiveness by passing many restrictive laws and regulations about speed, noise and general behavior.
But yet they want your dollar as visitors and so The Sundial Plaza, home of a giant Sundial which serves no real purpose and The Spanish Village next to it have many shops and restaurants mainly of Southwestern flavor, Art and Treasures. Many art festivals on weekends as well as a Farmers Market also lead to a pleasant day of browsing.
CAVE CREEK on the other hand can be the anti-carefree, originally mostly a cowboy and horse fancier town that attracted bikers from all over who really pissed off the Carefreers as they ride through that staid town with their noise and wild attire. Cave Creek has some legendary saloons including, Harold’s, The Buffalo Chip, The Satisfied Frog and The Horny Toad all reflecting the old visions of the wild west in their particular way. Shopping can be an adventure too as old west treasures and artifacts can be found in stores such as The Town Dump, The Lazy Lizard and Buffalo Bill’s.
But do it now if you want to see the fabled Cowboy Town in all it’s glory for the town is changing as newcomers move in with million dollar homes and attitudes more like the Carefreer’s. Fancy 4 Star Restaurants have popped up that get glowing reviews in the Phoenix Papers: Binkley’s, Cartwright’s The Cave Creek Coffee Co. to name a few. As they are with everything the times they are a changing!