The city of Eloy presents itself as an exciting stop when passing through the vast Sonoran Desert in Arizona.
Located in Pinal County, Eloy spreads over 514 square miles in the southern part of Arizona between the cities of Tucson and Phoenix.
Eloy was founded as a railroad town during the late 1800s and was incorporated as a city in 1949.
The city’s name is an acronym for “East Line of Yuma” that the Southern Pacific Railroad adopted when it set up a train stop in Eloy.
Historical and natural sites are among the points of interest in Eloy, which thrived as an agricultural trade center in its early years.
Cotton production helped drive Eloy’s growth during its pioneering years.
In 1918, it was called Cotton City.
The name Eloy, however, proved to be more popular among the local post office folks, and they officially adopted the name Eloy in 1919.
Find out more about the charms of this desert city in the following list of things to do in Eloy.
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Eloy visitors looking for an adrenaline rush typically wind up at Skydive Arizona on North Taylor Street just east of the Eloy Municipal Airport.
Laying claim to the title of world’s skydiving capital, Skydive Arizona also touts itself as the operator of the largest skydive drop zone on the planet.
As fascinating as these claims are, Eloy is also home to two major parachute makers: Sun Path Products and Firebird USA.
For first-time jumpers, Skydive Arizona suggests its tandem skydive ,where these newbies will be harnessed securely to one of its instructors during the jump.
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All Skydive Arizona instructors are experienced, with a minimum of 1,000 skydives.
Kids can also enjoy Skydive Arizona’s indoor skydiving facility’s thrills.
Here, kids will experience the freefall of skydiving in a 14-foot wind tunnel providing wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.
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Another sky-bound adventure sports activity is available at Droplyne Hot Air Balloons on North Taylor Street.
Here, you can pick from two balloon ride options: shared flights and private flights.
Droplyne customizes each balloon ride experience through its use of different balloon sizes.
A range of baskets is hooked up to these balloons, with their capacity ranging from two passengers up to 16 passengers.
A ride in the balloons of Droplyne soars to a height of 10,000 feet, higher than any U.S. operator.
Their balloons can reach this height because Droplyne’s Eloy area is away from the city, and the balloon flights are above farmlands and desert areas.
The balloon flight duration goes at a minimum of one hour,wherein the passengers can enjoy beautiful views of mountains and city skylines.
Tethered hot air balloon rides and balloon skydives can also be arranged at Droplyne Hot Air Balloons.
Avid golfers on a visit to Eloy can quickly gain access to the Robson Ranch Golf Club
North Robson Boulevard northeast of Jimmie Kerr Boulevard.
The club’s golf course is semi-private, and this 18-hole par 72 layout is open to public play.
Opened in 2005, the Robson Ranch championship links opened in 2005, offering play over 6,845 yards from the longest tees.
This layout features rolling fairways with a 72.0 course rating and 120 slope rating,
It features strategically located bunkers and masterfully crafted natural areas that provide good scoring possibilities in their risk/reward configurations.
This golf course is one of the amenities in the age 55-plus community of Robson Ranch,which has counterparts not only in Arizona but also in Texas.
Golfers in the course can also access the nearby Ranch House Grill which offers menus for brunch, lunch, and dinner,plus beer on tap from its full bar.
Eloy visitors accompanied by kids fond of BMX or mountain biking will be delighted with OnTrack BMX on West Francisco Drive.
The racing season on its MTB/BMX track is during the fall and open to all from the sixth grade to senior high school.
A practice facility is available at OnTrack BMX, plus a flat oval track for novices.
A joy rides around Eloy has an exciting stop at the Stage Station and Homestead Historical Site on North StarRoad.
At this site, you will find the old buildings that the Southern Pacific Mail and Stage Line constructed in1879.
These structures include a mesquite corral and the stage line’s one-room adobe station.
Initially, this site served as a water stop and a horse-changing station for passengers boarding the train south in Picacho en route to Florence and beyond.
Later in 1913, the site became a homestead,and some more structures were added.
These included a bunkhouse, storage, and water pump; a ranch school was also built north of the site.
Eloy is host to a franchise of the Iron Skillet, a chain of full-service restaurants in truck stops across the U.S. offering grandma recipes on the menu.
This restaurant is located on North Sunland Gin Road and serves contemporary favorites daily, such as Sweet Heat Steak Rice Bowl.
Iron Skillet’s meals are at a great price and served by a friendly staff who gives this restaurant a welcoming ambiance.
Indian cuisine amid the Sonora Desert of Arizona is one unique experience they can offer.
For these servings, proceed to Flavor of India on North Chesley Road, where lunch buffet, dinner, and takeout are available.
Its kitchen swears to sing only the freshest and top quality ingredients for customer orders of rice Biryani, lamb, and goat delicacies
AThisrrestaurant’sflavor-rich cheese cubes with tomato base gravy and green peas in onion are a must-try.
A Western bar and restaurant, Tumbleweed Inn,is located on West Frontier Street, which is within walking distance northeast of the Sunland Visitor Center.
Besides serving cold beverages, including beer, Tumbleweed Inn is famous for its Monday specials of spaghetti dinner and fried catfish and butterfly shrimp on Thursdays.
Live music entertainment is also scheduled at Tumbleweed Inn, featuring classical rock and country music, among others.
Check out this quaint facility on North Camelot Street east of North Toltec Road.
Founded by the Eloy Chambers of Commerce and Arizona City in 1987, Sunland Visitor Center helps to unlock other points of interest not only in Eloy.
It stands as one of just three Arizona visitor’s centers. It provides up-to-date information about other travel destinations in the state, particularly those in Arizona City and Toltec Arizona Valley.
The Sunland Visitor Center is housed in the vintage Toltec School, also under development as a museum focused on cotton and the history of Santa Cruz Valley and Eloy.
Visitors of the center can get free brochures on Arizona travel destinations and information about various local tours.
A sizable northern portion of the Ironwood Forest National Monument is located within Eloy’s jurisdiction.
Sprawling over 129,000 acres, the Ironwood Forest is accessible via Interstate 10, cutting across the northern half of Eloy.
Besides sightseeing on the natural, historical, and archeological sites of the forest, other visitor activities include hiking, mountain biking, horse riding, and primitive camping.
Visitors don’t need a permit to enter the Ironwood Forest, where hunting is allowed, subject to the regulations of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
The forest is popular among bow hunters, particularly those after javelina and deer.
In this event, Eloy celebrates its Hispanic heritage and joins Mexico’s celebration of its Independence.
Fiestas Patrias happens annually in Eloy, with its Central Main Street Park as the venue.
The highlights of this event include a grand parade, mariachi music, folk dancing, food, and family entertainment.
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This nature park is in the unincorporated community of Picacho,10 miles southeast of Eloy.
The Picacho Peak State Park, accessible via Interstate 10, offers several hiking trails across the scenic Sonora Desert.
There’s a visitor center in this park, which offers a playground, a campground, picnic areas, a store, exhibits, and historical markers.
The only Civil War battle in Arizona happened in the Picacho Pass of this park, and this event is re-enacted here every year.
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This park also stands out because of its Picacho Peak, which rises to 1,500 feet above sea level.
Visitors can hike the park’s winding trails to this summit, where they can enjoy sweeping panoramic views of fields and wildflowers, especially in the spring.
A cable-assisted ascent of Picacho Peak is available to visitors for easier access to the summit.
Visits to the park are open the whole year from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with its trails accessible from sunrise to sunset.
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Located 10 miles north of Eloy, Caywood Cotton Farms spreads off Arizona Highway 287 in Casa Grande.
It offers family-friendly tours starting with live music so the visitors immediately feel at home.
These tours are hands-on and allow visitors to pick cotton they can bring home, among other farm activities.
The visitors tour the Caywood Cotton Farms aboard a hay wagon, during which they’d see farm equipment at work.
Traditionally scheduled around the second half of March each year, the Pinal County Fair is a five-day event held at its fairgrounds on Mile Corner in Casa Grande 9 miles south of Eloy.
Besides fun rides, this fair offers family-fun entertainment in its repertoire of contests, musical performances, and livestock shows.
The competitions in the fair range from photography to baking to woodworking to quilting and other popular hobbies.
Watch out for other events on the fairgrounds during other months, including band concerts, local festivals, car racing, and entertainment shows.
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This museum is located on West Florence Boulevard in Casa Grande, 15 miles northwest of Eloy.
The Museum of Casa Grande boasts over 80,000 artifacts, photographs, and documents collected since its foundation in 1964.
The artifacts on exhibit at the museum include artistic items as well as practical, technological, and communication pieces from various cultures, industries, and landscapes.
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The museum’s collections of photos and other formats depict the Casa Grande region’s individuals, families, structures, and landscape from the 1700s to contemporary times.
A library and archives contain these mementos, historical documents, and an oral history collection.
Operating since 1929, the Wuertz Gourd Farm is located on Arizona Highway 287 in Casa Grande, 12 miles north of Eloy.
This farm bills itself as the “ultimate source” of gourds for artisans and crafters, offering various types of cleaned gourds.
Visitors can schedule participation in the farm’s outdoor classes on gourd handicrafts.
It also holds “Running of the Gourds,” a kid-friendly annual event at the Pinal Fairgrounds around mid-February.
Eloy provides an oasis of delights for folks traveling through the Sonora Desert, with the many points of interest it has established since its pioneer years.
The city is a destination rich with countryside charm while also having enough urban flavor.
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