Parks, trails and outdoor places in Gilbert

Gilbert's best outdoor months are the ones ahead. From now until spring, the mornings are cool enough for a long walk around a pond, a ride along a canal or a lap of a lake before work. The town keeps adding to its parks, too, and this winter some familiar places are fenced for improvements while others have reopened. Here's where residents go, and how to check before you set out.

The Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch

The preserve at 2757 E. Guadalupe Road, beside the Southeast Regional Library, covers 110 acres with seven ponds and more than four and a half miles of trails. Its habitat runs from marsh to desert, and the National Audubon Society has named it an Important Bird Area, so bring binoculars and go slowly. There's also a lake for fishing, an ethnobotanical garden, children's play areas and, on Friday and Saturday evenings when the weather allows, the Gilbert Rotary Centennial Observatory, run by the East Valley Astronomy Club.

The preserve is three things at once: a park, a water reclamation site and a home for wildlife. That shapes the rules. Trail and habitat areas are open from dawn to dusk. Stay on the trails and in public areas like the viewing blinds, keep your distance from animals and nests, and keep dogs on a leash no longer than six feet. Bikes are welcome on trails and sidewalks if riders yield to people on foot. The ponds hold reclaimed water meant for wildlife, so children, dogs and horses stay out of the basins whether they're wet or dry. Ducks may be fed only at Water Ranch Lake, and only bird seed, cracked corn or whole grain cereal.

Gilbert Regional Park and the parks being built out

At Higley and Queen Creek roads, Gilbert Regional Park has reopened after its summer work. Its seven-acre lake has a fishing pier and a half-mile path around it, and a longer one-mile path circles the lake and event lawn. Around them are tennis, pickleball, basketball and lit sand volleyball courts, all first come, first served, plus The Mountain, a 17-foot climbing playground with seven slides and a zip line. The park also has the Sister Cities Friendship Garden, honoring Gilbert's ties to Antrim and Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland and Leshan, China.

More is coming. In September the Town Council approved the next construction contracts for the park's second phase, which will add a six-field youth softball complex, more parking and lighting, and a road connection to the new Ocotillo Road bridge. The park draws about 1.1 million visits a year, according to the town.

Desert Sky Park, at 6624 S. Power Road between Williams Field and Pecos roads, has also reopened. It opened in 2019 with fields, a fitness course, a lake and a playground, and it already holds the town's only all-inclusive playground. Its second phase, under construction since January, will add five fields, an inclusive playground and splash pad, pickleball and tennis courts and a new entrance off Power Road; the town expects that part to open in March 2028.

Parks are where Gilbert becomes a community.

Freestone Park this winter

Freestone Park, at 1045 E. Juniper Road, was Gilbert's first major district park when it opened in 1988, and much of it is open as usual: the skate park, courts, fields and multi-use trails. But the town lists several closures through the season. The lakes, the Freestone Railroad and its amusement rides are closed from June 2026 to May 2027. Other areas, including the lower basin fields, the tot lot, the middle playground and nearby restrooms, close for shorter stretches through the winter, so check the town's closures page before you go. Some lawns may be fenced while new sod grows, and the town asks everyone to stay out of fenced areas.

Canal trails that cross town

For a longer walk, run or ride, Gilbert's trail system follows the canals. According to the town's visitor site, the Central Trail System covers about 135 miles, including more than 54 miles of marked bike trails beside the canals that Salt River Project maintains. The Heritage, Santan Vista and Marathon trails run north and south, and the Western Powerline Trail runs east and west. They connect most of the town's parks, with small pocket parks along the way offering shade, drinking fountains and ramadas. Look for the ramada at the Riparian Preserve built in the shape of a Da Vinci flying machine.

After a morning on the trail, a couple of Gilbert businesses keep the routine going. Crave Protein Cafe, at 143 E. Germann Road, serves smoothies, protein bowls, coffee and breakfast plates. Arizona Pilates Studio, in the Palo Verde Complex at 7 E. Palo Verde Street, runs low-impact strength, cardio and stretching classes for days when the weather turns or you want to work on something different.

Before you go

Gilbert's summer heat is serious; the town counted 113 days at or above 100 degrees in 2024. In the warm months it asks residents to walk early in the morning or late in the evening, drink plenty of water, and wear a hat, sunglasses and light clothing. Those habits are worth keeping on a sunny winter afternoon too.

For maps, Discover Gilbert's interactive bicycle trail map shows the canal routes and parks. For conditions, the town keeps a running park-closures story on its website and updates it as work moves along; each park's own page lists its current announcements, and Gilbert Regional posts pickleball updates on its social media. A quick look before you leave saves a drive to a fenced playground.