Tempe Beach Park & Answering the Call Memorial, Tempe, Przewodnik dla zwiedzających i co robić w okolicy

Tempe Beach Park is a public park on the north shore of Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona. It is also home to the Answering the Call Memorial, a statue by sculptor Benjamin Victor that honors police officers, firefighters and police canines who died in the line of duty. The park and the lake around it exist because of long efforts to tame the Salt River.

The story behind it

The statue was created by Benjamin Victor and is dedicated to the police officers, firefighters and police canines who have fallen in the line of duty. It gives the park a quiet, reflective corner beside a busy waterfront.

The lake itself has a story. In the 1800s the Salt River ran uncontrolled through the valley, and floods repeatedly damaged the bridges and crossings built to get across it. Roosevelt Dam, built upstream on the Salt River, slowed the flow through the Valley and gave people control over water storage and farm irrigation. Flooding did not vanish overnight, but it eased considerably once the dam was in place. Later flood control work and channelization of the river bed shaped the setting you see today.

What to look for

• The Answering the Call statue itself, and the dedication to officers, firefighters and police canines, which is worth reading slowly before you move on.
• The bridges and crossings over the river bed, a reminder of how often people have had to rebuild ways across the Salt River.
• The long, calm stretch of Tempe Town Lake, which only exists because the river was engineered and controlled.
• The mix of park lawns, paths and waterfront, which shows how a flood control zone became a place for the city to gather.

Tips for your visit

• Plan 30 to 45 minutes for the memorial and a stroll along the water, longer if you want to walk further around the lake.
• Go early in the morning or toward sunset in warm months, as Arizona sun can be intense, and carry water.
• It is an open public park, so you can walk in and see the statue from outside. Check current event schedules in case parts of the park are busy or closed off.
• The Mill Avenue district and Tempe Butte are close by, so it pairs easily with a longer walk and a meal afterwards.

See it on a quest

The park is one stop on Highlights of Tempe: The Troll of Tempe Town Lake. You reach it on foot as part of a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. It is a relaxed way to learn the story of the memorial and the lake without a guide or a fixed start time. The quest is a paid one, and one ticket covers the whole group.