Neighborhood Highlight: The Moon

Originally published on December 17, 2024

There are many great things about the Arrowhead Ranch community, but one other benefit to our location is how close we are to other amenities.

Last Friday, my wife had her friends over, and like a good husband, I got out of there with the quickness!! 

My father and I headed out on an adventure to Lake Pleasant to take advantage of the nearly full moon. He has a convertible and it makes for a fun ride this time of year.

Our first stop was Ringtail day use area, which you can get to through the south entrance to the park. We had a great view to the north just after the sun set.

Next we headed up to the Castle Creek boat ramp, which you can get to through the north entrance to the park. The moon had been up for a while so we didn’t get much of a reflection on the lake, except for when a fishing boat headed in for the night and created a wake.

It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time just hanging out and enjoying how quiet it is by the lake. We also had fun watching the continuous flow of Starlink satellites through the sky.

Here are maps to the two locations we visited. There is a park admission fee of $7 for a day

We had so much fun on Friday night, that we decided to head out for the full moon on Sunday. This time we went to Barlett Lake northeast of Scottsdale. The moonrise was just after the sunset, so we had got to experience both in a short amount of time.

We ended up at Bartlett Lake Flats, which is an area at the north end of the park, where you can drive down a dirt road and right up to the edge of the water. You can certainly do this in a regular car, no need for a 4×4 or high clearance.

We arrived right at sunset and the few boats that were on the water headed back to the marina, and the other people who were fishing took off too. We found ourselves all alone, and it was amazing. A couple boats did pass by from up the lake, but for the most part it was just us and the moon.

We had a fun time anticipating when & where on the horizon the moon was going to rise over, and once it was up it was neat how the whole experience changed with the bright light of the moon.

Bartlett Lake is a bit further away from Arrowhead than Lake Pleasant, but it is also worth the trip. If you go, there is a $12 park admission fee for a day pass.