How to Have the Best Weekend in Mesa, Arizona as a Wheelchair User

Arizona is one of my favorite states. I am a huge fan of the warm weather, the natural beauty of the desert, and I always fall a little more in love with Arizona during every trip that I take. So far, I’ve seen the majesty of the Grand Canyon, toured around Tempe, and seen some of Phoenix’s best sights, but I had never explored the city of Mesa and honestly, I didn’t really know anything about Mesa until very recently. However, as soon as I heard that Wheel the World is now offering wheelchair accessible self-guided trips in Mesa, I was intrigued. 

I’ve traveled with Wheel the World in various destinations over the past couple years (in Chile, Barcelona, and Atlanta to name a few) and partnered with them in different ways, so I know that they take accessibility seriously. Unlike previous trips that I’ve done with them though, where they arranged a tour guide and driver for us, Wheel the World is now offering self-guided tours in Mesa, Arizona. 

What does that mean exactly? Well, it basically means that the amazing team at Wheel the World arranges your accessible hotel, wheelchair accessible rental van, and they recommend accessible attractions and restaurants for you to visit (and they’ve personally scouted each location for accessibility!), but you are free to explore as you please and you don’t have an official guide with you throughout the trip. Wheel the World takes care of all of the logistics, so that you can just enjoy the trip and not have to worry about accessibility arrangements. 

Usually when I plan trips, I’m so stressed out about finding an accessible hotel that’ll work for my needs, booking a rental van, or one of the other stressors that come with traveling as a wheelchair user, that I’m kind of exhausted by the time I actually get to the destination. So I was immensely happy that Wheel the World took care of all of the logistics before I arrived in Mesa. Once I reached Mesa, I was able to start enjoying the city immediately.

Over the course of four days, I enjoyed wheelchair accessible Mesa Arizona attractions, soaked up the sun, ate delicious food, and had a completely stress-free trip. It was one of the most relaxing trips I’ve had in a long time thanks to Wheel the World and I’d love to share some of my favorite things that I did in Mesa with you. In this blog post, I’ll cover accessible attractions and things to do, where to stay in Mesa, and then I’ll let you know how you can book this exact same trip at the very end of this blog, so stay tuned for that!

Wheelchair Accessible Mesa Arizona Attractions & Things to Do

Mesa is the third-largest city in Arizona and it’s located just 15 minutes from the Phoenix airport, so there is certainly a lot to do! No matter what kind of attraction you’re in the mood to visit, Mesa is sure to have it. Here are some of my top recommendations for wheelchair-friendly things to do in Mesa (and you can rest assured that each attraction mentioned below has been personally scouted by both Wheel the World and I for accessibility) –

Ride the Dolly Steamboat

One of the first things that I was able to do in the Mesa area was ride the Dolly Steamboat. This steamboat has been cruising since 1925, but despite being nearly 100 years old, it is wheelchair accessible. I spent an hour and a half cruising on the Dolly and it was a special experience. 

The Dolly Steamboat cruises on Canyon Lake in the heart of the Superstition Mountains. It’s in Tortilla Flat, Arizona, which is about a 30-40 minute drive outside of downtown Mesa. During the drive from Mesa to the Dolly Steamboat, I saw so many beautiful sights and we pulled over for photo ops several times, so I’d suggest planning for the drive to take an hour and a half from Mesa so you can get some good photos along the way.

There was a ramp for me to get onboard the steamboat and the entire lower level of the boat was wheelchair accessible. Unfortunately, an elevator wasn’t available to access the upper level, but there were accessible indoor and outdoor viewing areas from the lower level, so I had terrific views for the entire cruise. 

Inside the Dolly Steamboat, there were snacks and drinks for sale throughout the cruise. It was also air conditioned, so you’ll be able to enjoy this experience even in the blazing hot summers in Arizona. 

During the scenic cruise, we had spectacular views of the surrounding Superstition Mountains, but we also saw a variety of wildlife. The captain came over the speaker system and told us where the animals were located every time he saw one, which was helpful. We saw bald eagles, desert bighorn sheep, and more wildlife. 

The Dolly Steamboat offers scenic nature cruises, which is what I did, but they also have twilight dinner cruises and astronomy dinner cruises. Rates start at about $30 per adult for the scenic cruise and tickets can be purchased online in advance of your visit. 

Explore Goldfield Ghost Town

When you think of Arizona, there’s a good chance that you think of the Wild West. If that’s the case and you would like to step, or roll, back in time to the Wild West, I have good news for you. You can do just that at Goldfield Ghost Town. 

Goldfield Ghost Town is located just down the road from the Dolly Steamboat, so this would be a great attraction to visit either before or after your cruise. I visited right after the cruise and ended up spending about three or four hours exploring Goldfield Ghost Town because there is so much to see. 

Back in the 1890s, Goldfield was a vibrant and successful mining community with a boarding house, three saloons, a brewery, a general store, a school, and more. Eventually though, the gold became more difficult to acquire in the mines and the community died. However, when you visit Goldfield today, you can see exactly what made it such a great place and you’ll feel like you’ve gone back in time. 

There are various wheelchair accessible attractions to experience at Goldfield Ghost Town. Along Main Street, there are shops and eateries as well. I really enjoyed browsing the souvenir stores and trying some prickly pear fudge, which was delicious! While in Arizona, you should definitely try all of the prickly pear foods. 

Tours of the mine are available, but the mine is not accessible. I did check out a couple museums at Goldfield though, including the Goldfield Historic Museum and the Superstition Reptile Exhibit. In the Historic Museum, I learned all about the history of the area and in the Reptile Exhibit, I saw many snakes that were local to Arizona, but some that were from other destinations around the world as well. 

One of the best things to enjoy at Goldfield is the train. The train is wheelchair accessible and a ride on it lasts for about 20 minutes. It circles Goldfield and thanks to the narration throughout the ride, I learned a lot about Goldfield during the ride. As America’s only narrow gauge train, this should be a must-do for everyone that’s visiting. 

Accessibility at Goldfield Ghost Town was good for the most part, but some areas are quite steep. Main Street isn’t paved and the further you roll along it, the steeper it gets. I didn’t really have any issues in my powered wheelchair, but if you use a manual wheelchair, it might be a bit more challenging, but not impossible by any means. 

Goldfield Ghost Town is open every day of the week with most merchants and attractions open from 10am-5pm. The saloon is open until 9pm though and if you visit on Saturday or Sunday, you can witness a “gunfight” on Main Street. Learn more about everything that Goldfield offers here.

Visit the Superstition Mountain Museum

Another attraction that is certainly worth visiting, and not far from Goldfield Ghost Town and the Dolly Steamboat, is the Superstition Mountain Museum. This is a wonderful place to learn about the history of the area and its people through an indoor museum and various outdoor exhibits as well. 

I started my visit at the Superstition Mountain Museum by checking out the indoor museum. It was completely wheelchair accessible and I looked around for about 30-45 minutes. The museum is all on the ground floor, and a gift shop is available. The gift shop sells all kinds of souvenirs, local Native American arts & crafts, jewelry, and more.

After enjoying the indoor space and learning a lot, I ventured outside. The outdoor spaces at Superstition Mountain Museum are fascinating and you can easily spend a couple hours (at least!) exploring outside. The paths and trails are not paved, but they are mostly made of hard-packed dirt, so I had no issues getting around in my powered wheelchair. The only area that I chose not to visit was the Apache Village because the trail that went to it seemed too rough. 

Some of the exhibits that you’ll wander upon as you’re outside include a stamp ore mill, which was a piece of mining equipment, an exhibit devoted to Western movies and TV shows, and even a large scale model train exhibit. I really loved watching the model trains, as the attention to detail was incredibly impressive. The train layout is 2,300 square feet and there are more than 1,500 feet of track, so you can imagine how grand the exhibit is! 

After visiting Elvis Presley’s Graceland a few years ago and becoming a fan of him, I was also excited to learn that the Superstition Mountain Museum had an “Elvis chapel”. The chapel was a prop in Elvis’ 1969 Western movie “Charro!”, which is the only movie that he didn’t sing in. A ramp was available at the chapel entrance, so I was able to go inside. It was cool to see this piece of Elvis’ history up close and personal. 

Superstition Mountain Museum is pet-friendly, so feel free to bring your dog if you want, and admission is just $7 per adult. There are numerous special events throughout the year here as well, so be sure to check out the event calendar online before you visit.

Learn at the Arizona Museum of Natural History

Located in downtown Mesa, the Arizona Museum of Natural History is a family-friendly attraction and a must-visit while in the city. It has a wide variety of exhibits for children of all ages, but honestly, you can enjoy it no matter how old you are.

The museum covers the history of the entire natural world, but what I really enjoyed was its focus on history within Arizona. There are permanent exhibits about southwest cultures, Mesoamerica and South America, and much more. While the museum is geared toward kids and teens, I learned so much during my visit at this museum, which lasted about two hours. 

Throughout the museum, you’ll go from the origin of Earth to modern day and there is a pretty big focus on dinosaurs especially. If you have children, they will probably be amazed by the giant dinosaur skeletons throughout the museum. You’ll see the first one as soon as you enter the museum, and they only get bigger and better from there. As a kid, I was enthralled by dinosaurs and after seeing all of them in this museum, I felt like a kid again with excitement.

From the moment I entered the Arizona Museum of Natural History, it was completely wheelchair accessible. Complimentary manual wheelchairs are available to use during your visit on a first-come, first-served basis and two family/companion care restrooms are located on the ground floor. There are elevators to access every level of the museum. 

The Arizona Museum of Natural History is closed on Mondays, but open every other day of the week. Admission costs $13 per adult and $7 for children 3-12 years old. You can purchase tickets online in advance of your visit here.

Play at Fat Cats Entertainment 

There is no better place to end a day in Mesa than Fat Cats Entertainment. Here, you have a variety of ways to be entertained and most activities are wheelchair accessible. Whether you want to see a movie, go bowling, or something else, you are sure to have a fun time. 

My visit to Fat Cats Entertainment started by playing some games in the expansive arcade. They had many of my favorites, but luck obviously wasn’t on my side because I didn’t win very many tickets. I still had a lot of fun though. 

Next, my mom and I decided to try our hands at bowling. Fat Cats Entertainment even had a ramp for me to use, so I was able to push the bowling ball down the ramp. It worked wonderfully and after a few attempts, I figured out the perfect position for the ramp and won by a few points! 

Fat Cats Entertainment also has movie theaters showing the newest hits, glow-in-the-dark mini golf (and from what I could tell, it looked wheelchair accessible!), and food and drinks are available for purchase. As you can probably tell, this is the ultimate entertainment venue in Mesa!

Eat delicious food at Mesa restaurants

Before my trip to Mesa, Wheel the World recommended multiple wheelchair accessible restaurants in the area. It was reassuring to know that they personally scouted the restaurants for accessibility. I couldn’t visit every restaurant that they recommended during my trip, but I did visit a few of them and these were three of my favorites:

Los Dos Molinos – My favorite kind of food is Mexican food and lucky for me, Arizona has so many amazing Mexican restaurants! Wheel the World recommended Los Dos Molinos and I absolutely loved it. The restaurant offers a ton of options on their menu, but I opted for the Shrimp Veracruz entree, which was six large shrimp in hatch red chile with cheese. It was super spicy, but in the best possible way! Los Dos Molinos had live music on the night that I visited as well, which was a nice addition to the meal. 

12 West Brewing – Another recommendation that Wheel the World told me about was 12 West Brewing, so I decided to eat here on my last night in Mesa. My travel blogger friend, Colleen of Travel Mamas & Grownup Getaways, and her husband Phil met up with us for dinner here and we all really enjoyed it. 12 West Brewing offers 12 craft beer taps and a full bar, but they have excellent food as well. I had the fish tacos and they were delicious! This restaurant is located in the heart of downtown Mesa and has a fun vibe, so I’d highly suggest checking it out.

Intentional Foods – After learning that their daughter had severe food allergies, parents Ned and Lisa decided to do something about it and they opened a restaurant named Intentional Foods. At Intentional Foods, every item on the menu is free of the top eight food allergens (peanuts, milk, eggs, tree nuts, shellfish, seafood, soy, and wheat). And the food is actually delicious! I really enjoyed my turmeric chicken tacos with sweet potato fries, but a variety of bowls, sandwiches, and more were on the menu as well. Whether you have a food allergy or not, Intentional Foods is a fantastic place to eat in Mesa, Arizona! 

Where to Stay: Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West

After filling out my accessibility profile on Wheel the World’s website and letting them know all of my needs, they determined that the best hotel for me in Mesa was the Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West. I stayed at this hotel for the duration of my trip in Mesa and it was perfect for my accessibility needs. I was so thankful to Wheel the World for arranging such a great hotel! 

In my wheelchair accessible room, there were two queen beds. Wheel the World told me all of the measurements throughout the room before I arrived and I thought the beds might be a bit too high for me, so the team at Wheel the World had one of the beds lowered in advance of my arrival. How awesome is that?! It was a perfect height for me and the room was spacious enough for me to maneuver around in my powered wheelchair. 

In the bathroom, there was a pull-under sink, grab bars, and a roll-in shower. The roll-in shower had smooth entry and couldn’t have been better for my needs. 

The Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West also had an outdoor pool with an access lift, and the hotel was in a great location. It was just a short drive from all of the wheelchair accessible sights in Mesa, so we really enjoyed our stay. And we’d certainly stay at this hotel again in the future. 

You can search for wheelchair accessible hotels in Mesa and other destinations around the world here.

My four days in Mesa, Arizona were spectacular and I cannot recommend it enough. From experiencing the Wild West to riding a steamboat, eating delicious food, and more, the city surpassed all of my expectations and I can’t wait to visit Mesa again! 

If you are interested in visiting Mesa and want to do the exact same tour that I did, check out Wheel the World’s site by clicking here.

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