The Complete Cactus League Guide: All 10 Phoenix Spring Training Parks

Last updated October 2026

⏳ Plan-ahead guide: spring training runs February–March 2027 — nothing is on the field right now (late October is World Series time). Read this now to pick your parks and your base and line up the trip; game dates land on this site as the 2027 schedules are released.

Spring training comes in two flavors. Florida's Grapefruit League sprawls across a whole state. Arizona's Cactus League does the opposite: 10 ballparks and 15 teams, all inside one metro area — and that density is exactly what makes it the best multi-stadium trip in baseball.

How compact is it? Using the venue coordinates in our own database, the two farthest-apart Cactus League parks — Sloan Park in Mesa and Surprise Stadium — sit about 37 miles apart as the crow flies. Every other pair is closer. There is no other spring training setup, and few regular-season ones, where you can sleep in one hotel and realistically see a game at a different park every day of a trip.

The 10 parks, and who's in them

Most parks host two teams, which quietly doubles your chances: on any given day, a shared park usually has somebody playing at home. You can browse every club's spring home on our MLB Spring Training page.

Think in three clusters

East Valley — 5 parks

Scottsdale (Salt River Fields, Scottsdale Stadium), Mesa (Sloan Park, Hohokam Stadium) and Tempe (Tempe Diablo Stadium). This is the dense heart of the Cactus League. The two Mesa parks are barely a mile apart, and Sloan Park to Salt River Fields is about 9 miles. If you only have a long weekend, plant yourself here and you'll never drive far.

Central Phoenix — 1 park

American Family Fields of Phoenix, home of the Brewers, sits in the Maryvale area of west Phoenix — a natural bridge between the East Valley and the West Valley parks.

West Valley — 4 parks

Glendale (Camelback Ranch), Peoria, Surprise and Goodyear line up along the northwest and southwest edges of the metro. They're close to each other; the haul is getting across the Valley from Scottsdale or Mesa. Pick one cross-Valley day rather than bouncing back and forth daily.

Where to stay

• Scottsdale — the classic base. Two parks minutes away (the Giants downtown, Salt River Fields just north), the best restaurant and nightlife scene in the Valley, and Mesa/Tempe parks within an easy drive. You'll pay Scottsdale prices in March, because everyone else has the same idea.
• Tempe — the value play. Tempe Diablo Stadium is right there, you're the closest base to Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, and Mesa's two parks are a short hop east. Good if your trip is more baseball than resort.
• Mesa — stay near Sloan Park if the Cubs are your anchor team, or if you want the quietest, most budget-friendly version of the East Valley cluster.
• Glendale / Peoria — worth it if Dodgers, White Sox, Padres, Mariners, Royals or Rangers games dominate your list. Base west and do one East Valley day instead of the reverse.

Getting there and around

Every one of the 10 parks lists Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) as its airport in our data — fly in once, and you're in range of everything. Rent a car; the parks are spread across a freeway metro and public transit won't chain them for you. Tempe Diablo Stadium is the closest park to PHX (a quick hop), which makes it a smart first-day or last-day game. The Loop 101 and Loop 202 freeways do most of the work — the East Valley cluster rides the 101, and the cross-Valley run to Goodyear or Surprise is the one drive to schedule around rush hour.

How many parks can you chain?

• A long weekend (3–4 days): 4–5 parks comfortably, all in the East Valley plus one West Valley day. Spring schedules include day games and some night games, so a two-game day — afternoon in Mesa, night game across town — is genuinely doable.
• A full week: all 10 parks is a realistic goal, and a favorite bucket-list run. You'll repeat a couple of parks for your own team; that's a feature, not a bug.
• One rule of thumb: anchor each day on one park and treat the second game as a bonus. Phoenix traffic is manageable, but a 1:05 first pitch and a 7:05 night game on opposite ends of the Valley is a long day in the sun.

Plan it with the Trip Finder

When the spring schedules are released, they land in StandsAndStays — and our Trip Finder has a preset built for exactly this trip. Pick “Arizona — Cactus League,” choose how many days you've got, and it finds the windows where the most parks are hosting home games back-to-back, so the trip chains itself.

A note on timing: the 2027 spring training fixtures haven't been released into our data feed yet, so the Finder can't chain Cactus League dates just yet — the parks, teams and this guide are here now, and the game dates drop into the site as they're published. Check the Spring Training page for the latest.

Frequently asked

What if my team trains in Florida?

Then you want the other coast of spring training — read our Grapefruit League Guide. Different geography, different strategy: there, picking the right cluster matters more than anything.

Is a rental car really necessary?

For one park, no — rideshares work fine from a Scottsdale or Tempe base. For chaining parks, yes. The whole point of the Cactus League is the density, and a car is how you cash it in.

How is this different from a regular-season road trip?

Same method, friendlier map. If the multi-stadium idea appeals to you, our 3-Stadium Road Trip guide walks through the full playbook with a live New York example.