The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is located in Scottsdale, AZ. It covers 30 acres, with two trains to ride, a carousel, a playground, and a 10,000 sq foot model railroad building.
Admission to the park grounds is free. This includes use of the playground, entry to the model railroad exhibit, and use of the expansive lawn. Tickets to the Trains, Carousel, and other attractions are $2.00 each, with children two and under riding free. You can also purchase a book of 6 tickets, or an all day wristband for $10.00.
A One Year Pass (also known as a membership) is available for $75 for one person, and $25 for each additional person age 3 and over.
The park also has pavilions offered for birthday parties, or other rental opportunities.
To say the duo loved this park would be a disservice to the extent of their feelings. We visited twice, because they had clearly found their happy place. This park began a love affair with trains that still runs true. Train was one of G’s first words. There is simply no way to measure the amount of fun they had at this park.
Our second train ride
We splurged on tickets, and took the kids on both trains, as well as the carousel. They also loved (and so did we!) the model train exhibit. In addition to the model train running above you as you enter the building, there are multiple models housed in large sections, each with 1,280 square feet of exhibit space, viewable on all four sides. You can see each model up close, from all four sides. The detail is impressive. Each section has multiple orange hands. When you place your hand on the orange hand, you activate different parts of the layout. The duo loved watching to see what each hand would do.
The exhibits are surrounded by ramps, so even our small children could see into the layout without being held the whole time. They enjoyed practicing walking up and down ramps, also!
In case the trains, carousel, model railroad, and railroad museum aren’t enough to keep you or your littles entertained, there are also two play structures. There is a playground (with separate sections for kids 2-5 and 5-12), as well as a Western Town play structure, complete with stage coach.
We played mostly in the playground area, as it seemed more suited for our littler kids.
This park had been recommended to us by more than a handful different people. We get it now. We are adding our recommendation to the list. With the prices being so reasonable, and the sprawling lawns, there is absolutely nothing that I can find to throw in the negative column. Even if your kids aren’t super interested in trains, they will still find something there to love.