10 Things Arizonans Do When It Finally Drops Below 70 Degrees

In the low desert, backyard citrus is ready to pick starting in November.

Arizonans have been saving a whole list of things for the first cool days, and this is the season to get to them.

Here’s what Arizonans do when it finally drops below 70 degrees.

1. Hitting the Trails

Many hikers head back to Phoenix’s desert trails once the weather cools.

A city parks official told the news station KTAR in 2014 that the trails and preserves see an uptick from around October and November through early spring.

Phoenix has more than 200 miles to spread those hikers across.

If you’re heading out this week, the city says to go early in the morning or in the evening and to carry more water than you think you need.

More than 200 hikers a year need rescuing from Phoenix desert and mountain parks and preserves.

The water rule stays.

2. Evenings at the Garden

Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix fills its fall calendar with evening hours.

The Garden lists Fall Garden After Dark as a nightly event, running from sunset to 10 p.m. through Nov. 15.

Wednesday Dog Nights run through Nov. 18 from 5 to 10 p.m., and Nov. 11 is one of those Wednesdays.

Music in the Garden concerts are ticketed and run from 6 to 9 p.m. on Nov. 13 and 20.

If you’ve got a free evening, you can stay past sunset.

Linger a while.

3. Saturday Farmers Market

The Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market trades its early summer hours for main-season hours after the second Saturday in October.

From then through May, it runs Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Arizona Center, 455 N. Third St.

Summer hours are 7:30 to 11:30 a.m., so you have an extra hour to browse.

There’s no rush.

You can sleep in a little.

4. Overseeding Winter Lawns

Many Phoenix-area homeowners treat overseeding as a fall project.

Chandler's water conservation page says to wait until nighttime temperatures are below 55 degrees before you overseed a Bermuda lawn with winter rye.

The rye gives you a green lawn through the winter months.

Residents, businesses and HOAs are also asked to consider limiting or forgoing overseeding of non-essential turf areas because of the severe Colorado River drought.

Nighttime lows set the schedule.

5. Cool-Season Gardens

Cool-season vegetable gardening has a long planting window in Maricopa County.

The University of Arizona's planting calendar lists head lettuce, leaf lettuce and broccoli as transplants or seeds from Sept. 15 through Dec. 15.

The window is open.

Carrots can go in as seeds from Aug. 1 through Dec. 15, and kale, spinach, peas and beets have planting windows that run through October and November, plus garlic cloves in October.

If you start this week, you're well inside the window for lettuce and broccoli.

6. Patio Dinners

Many Phoenix-area diners head for patio tables once the evenings cool off.

In an October 2022 fall roundup, azfamily listed patios at Chelsea's Kitchen in Phoenix's Arcadia area.

Red Allen's Bar & Grill in Litchfield Park and Prime, a Shula's Steakhouse in Chandler, made the list too.

If you're picking a spot this week, call ahead to confirm its patio hours for your group.

7. Fireplace Nights

Many Valley residents light a fireplace once the nights cool off, but the county can call a night off-limits.

Maricopa County's Air Quality Department can declare a No Burn Day when fine-particle (PM2.5) levels run high, as it did for Dec. 13 and 14, 2025.

It applied to residential fireplaces, chimeneas and outdoor fire pits, and to restaurants and hotels too.

That ban lasted one weekend.

On a No Burn Day, you can't burn wood in a fireplace, woodstove or chimenea, so check before you light one.

8. Chasing Fall Color

As the weather cools, fall color in Arizona keeps moving to lower elevations well past October.

Visit Arizona says color can start as early as mid-September in the mountains and last well into early December at high-desert spots.

Late September to late October brings yellows and reds along the creeks near Sedona, Cottonwood and Camp Verde.

Color heads south.

If you missed the mountains, you have a second chance.

By late November, the color shifts to lower elevations and farther south.

In early to mid-December, it reaches Sonoran Desert canyons such as Aravaipa.

9. Picking Backyard Citrus

You can start picking backyard citrus in November in the low desert.

The University of Arizona lists Marrs sweet oranges and Algerian mandarins as ripening in November.

Parent Washington navels start around Thanksgiving or early December.

Marsh grapefruit is ready to pick in December, but it sweetens on the tree and is best from March through May.

Grapefruit can wait.

10. ZooLights

The Phoenix Zoo's ZooLights runs from Nov. 25, 2026, through Jan. 15, 2027.

It crosses New Year's Day.

You can stroll under five million lights across more than two miles of zoo trail.