Road Tripping to Buc-ee's: Goodyear, AZ Edition
If you know us, you know we’re always down for a Buc-ee’s run. When we saw that the new Goodyear, Arizona location was officially opening its doors, we knew we had to be there.
We wanted to be one of the first to see the new Arizona specific designs (our favorites are here and here) so between being there for that and experiencing the absolute madness of a grand opening (over 40,000 people showed up!), it was a wildly successful trip. If you want to see just how chaotic a grand opening really is you can watch the full vlog here!
But it got us thinking: Buc-ee’s is absolutely a destination in its own right, but what do you do once your tank is full and you’ve eaten your weight in brisket and Beaver Nuggets?
Whether your with the whole family and are looking to burn off some road-trip energy, or just passing through the Phoenix area, here is our guide to making a true vacation out of your Goodyear Buc-ee’s stop.
We chose to make Goodyear our headquarters for this trip, we booked at Springhill Suites Goodyear as it is literally right down the road from the new Buc-ee's but when we went to check in they let us know they were overbooked but had a room for us right next door at Tru by Hilton. Not what you want to hear on vacation, right?! But it ended up being fine. The hotels shared a parking lot so it wasn't an inconvienence distance wise at all. They also treated us to a little snack gift bag and let us know we were free to use amenities and eat breakfast at either hotel. Which we did take advantage of because breakfast was better at the Marriott.
After sitting in grand opening traffic, we needed to move our bodies so we headed over to Estrella Mountain Regional Park, which is right in Goodyear’s backyard. It cost $5 for our car to get into the park.
Once there, we hiked the Baseline Trail, a relatively easy loop that’s just over two miles long. It was the perfect way to stretch our legs, get a quick workout in, see some lizards and take in some beautiful desert landscapes. Honestly, with the temperatures between 108 and 110 degrees I don't think we would have wanted anything longer than that.
One of the highlights from this hike was seeing the Goodyear Blimp take off into the sky, which led us down a rabbit hole of finding out if the city of Goodyear was named after the tire company....spoiler alert, it is! In 1917, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber company purchased 16,000 acres in the area to grow long-staple cotton, which was urgently needed to reinforce rubber tires and build airplanes during WWI. In 1944 the community voted to the Goodyear name in as their official title. So there's a little history lesson you didn't know you wanted!
We knew we needed a good 'beat the heat' activity so we sought out to find a pool. We drove past the Goodyear Recreation Campus and it looked awesome; water slides, lazy river, we were sold! We got all dressed up in our swim gear and headed there only to be told that rec center is reserved exclusively for Goodyear residents so there was no way for us to pay to swim for the day. Talk about a bummer! Wish they made that more clear on their website, I totally missed it.
Needless to say, we had to pivot and we are glad we did! We chose to check out Slick City which was right in Goodyear and it was so fun! Think indoor waterslides but without the water🙌. It was a great way to beat the hot hot heat and to awaken our inner child for some good old fashioned fun!
Since we were kid-free on this trip we loved having the flexibility to go do something fun together at night, we decided on Top Golf in Glendale - it was hoppin', almost completely full on a Tuesday night! But we were able to get in after a short wait and had so much fun honing our golf skills. Although, not sure if we got better or worse as the night went on. 🫠 It's so convenient that you can order drinks and snacks right there, no need to go anywhere separate for dinner.
Day 2 - We decided to roadtrip a little further out because we can't resist checking another National Park off our list! This day was for Saguaro National Park. Our first stop on our way out of Goodyear was of course Buc-ee's (How convenient!) to grab some of our favorite Beef Jerky and drinks for the drive.
Saguaro National Park is about 2-2.5 southeast of Goodyear and we spent most of it binge listening to the Love Trapped Podcast - have you heard it? It's a true-crime series about former Bachelor Clayton Echard getting trapped in a terrifying web of lies and threats after a casual fling. It is a crazy 'stranger than fiction' story where internet sleuths step in to uncover the truth and realize he wasn't the only guy she scammed.
Most of the story unfolds in Scottsdale Arizona so it was fun to be listening while in the general area and it kept us occupied the whole drive there and back.
We detoured just a little into Tuscon for some lunch and found the yummiest Mexican restaurant El Guero Canelo. Delicious tacos and surprisingly known for their Sonoran Hotdog, which we did try and liked!
With fully bellies we headed into Saguaro National Park and were just blown away! Pictures really don’t do justice to how massive and majestic these cacti are in person. And they are everywhere!
We are hikers and we really wanted to hike but we had to keep in mind that it was around 110° the day we were there in mid-June. Just standing outside felt like a hairdryer was blowing on your legs. So we did do short little walks around and brought plenty of water with us but we were cautious and wanted to be safe and smart because that desert can kill. Fortunately there was plenty of beautiful landscape to see just driving through in our air-conditioned rental car.
I'm so glad we were able to make the trip down to see this stunning piece of the Sonoran Desert while we were in the area, but if you are planning around this place particularly and want to explore more, November - April will be better weather wise to spend more time outside. We have no regrets though.
Our last day was only a half day, so we took advantage of sleeping in, getting a little bit of work done in the morning and then ending our Arizona adventure with lunch at one of our old favorites that we haven't been to in years! PF Changs for the win. We had the best server, so friendly and helpful -- even though he had the hard job of breaking the news to us that they no longer have Shrimp with Candied Walnuts and Melon on the menu. Why???? That was the best. But alas, it was still delicious and very satisfying! 
We packed a lot into this little trip, but we ran out of time for one major Arizona bucket-list item: tubing down the Lower Salt River. It's a classic way to beat the heat, floating down the river with a good chance of spotting wild horses along the banks. We had to skip it this time because our availability didn't quite line up with the Salt River Tubing Company, but it is at the very top of our list for the next time we are in the area.
Even though the 110-degree heat kept us on our toes, we couldn't have asked for a better trip to check out the new Goodyear Buc-ee's. It forced us to pivot, get creative with our itinerary, and find some incredible gems in the Sonoran Desert that we never would have discovered otherwise. Buc-ee's is the ultimate excuse to explore a new city. Whether you're traveling kid-free like we did this time, or loading up the whole family, this area is absolutely worth a spot on your travel radar. The next time you route a road trip around a Buc-ee’s, take a look at the surrounding map—you might just find your next great vacation hiding right in its backyard.
That's a wrap on our Texas Snax Travel Tour to Arizona but we will definitely be back to conquer the Salt River another time! What is your favorite thing to do around the Phoenix area? Let me know what we need to add to our itinerary for next time!
It's our tradition to collect magnets on our travels, here are the magnets we bought to commemorate this trip:
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