The first time I flew into Phoenix in December, I made the snowbird mistake. I packed shorts, started a “sunset” hike at four, and planned dinner on a patio at eight. By 5:40 I was picking my way down a rocky trail by phone light, and by eight I was shivering on that patio.
Phoenix in December is excellent. It just isn’t summer with the heat turned down. The days are bright, dry and in the mid-60s, the nights drop into the 40s, and the sun is gone by about 5:25. If you build your week around that short, sharp desert day instead of fighting it, December may be the best month of the year to be there.
It’s also getting crowded. In Hertz’s holiday outlook published October 29, Phoenix ranks third among its Christmas and New Year’s rental destinations, behind Orlando and Los Angeles, with some of the largest jumps in advance reservations. Here’s how my team and I would plan a warm December week there in 2026.
The Short Answer: A December Week in Phoenix
- Hike early, not late. The sun rises around 7:15 to 7:30 a.m. and sets around 5:20 to 5:30 p.m. all month. Morning trails, afternoon lunches, evening lights.
- Pick one ticketed light show and one free one. Las Noches de las Luminarias at Desert Botanical Garden ($39.95 to $44.95 for adults) or ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo ($35), plus Glendale Glitters, which costs nothing.
- Book the car before Thanksgiving. Phoenix is a top-three Hertz destination for the Christmas stretch, and Hertz’s busiest pickup days are December 23, 24 and 26.
- Watch the calendar around December 30. The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl is a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at State Farm Stadium in Glendale that night, and hotel rates in the West Valley will show it.
- Pack for two climates. Sun protection for 66 degrees at noon, a real layer for 45 degrees after dark.
What the Weather Actually Does
The official numbers from Phoenix Sky Harbor, using the 1991 to 2020 climate normals, put the average December high at 66.2°F and the average low at 45.3°F. December is the coolest month of the year in Phoenix, and the stretch from roughly December 20 to 27 runs a degree or two colder still. Average December rainfall is 0.74 inches, which usually arrives as one or two gray days rather than a wet week.
That twenty-degree swing is the whole story. At 11 a.m. on a clear day you’re in a T-shirt on a trailhead, squinting. At 5:45 p.m. the sun is gone, the desert gives up its heat fast, and you want a jacket, not a sweater tied around your waist. The air is very dry, too. My lips crack by day three if I don’t pay attention, and my nose feels it on the plane home.
Arizona doesn’t observe daylight saving time, so in December Phoenix is two hours behind New York. A 7:15 a.m. trail start feels like 9:15 to an East Coast body. Use that.
Why the 5:25 Sunset Changes Everything
On December 21 the sun rises in Phoenix at about 7:28 a.m. and sets at about 5:25 p.m. That’s under ten hours of daylight, and the mountains around the valley swallow the last of it earlier than the official sunset time if you’re on the wrong side of a ridge.
Most visitors plan a summer day: late breakfast, midday hike, sunset drinks. In December that becomes a rushed hike and a dark descent. I flip it. Boots on the trail by 7:30 or 8, a slow warm afternoon by a pool or in a museum, and lights in the evening. Every big light show opens between 5 and 5:30 p.m., so the city is built for that rhythm.
If you do want one sunset, make it a short one. Hole-in-the-Rock in Papago Park is a few minutes’ scramble from the parking loop, and the arch frames the valley as the sky turns orange. As you can see, you won’t be alone. Get there 30 to 40 minutes before sunset, find a spot on the rock, and you’ll be back at the car before the light fully goes. Papago Park is also handy because the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo sit right next to it on Galvin Parkway, so a sunset there can roll straight into an evening of lights.
Three Morning Hikes Worth the Alarm
Camelback Mountain via Echo Canyon
This is the famous one, and it’s famous for good reason. The City of Phoenix lists the Echo Canyon Trail at about 1.14 miles one way with roughly 1,400 feet of climbing, and the upper half is a hands-on scramble over boulders and handrails. It’s short, steep and very busy. Parking is open sunrise to sunset, the gate closes when the small lot fills, and the city asks drivers not to wait or idle on McDonald Drive or Tatum Boulevard. On a December weekend, I treat “sunrise” as the actual arrival time, not a suggestion. If the lot is full, don’t circle. Go to plan B.
Piestewa Peak Summit Trail
Plan B is often better. The Summit Trail (#300) on Piestewa Peak is about 1.2 miles one way with roughly 1,200 feet of gain, mostly on rock steps rather than scrambling, and the summit view takes in Camelback, downtown and the whole valley. It’s a calf-burner going up and a knee test coming down, which is exactly why I bring poles on this one. My team has written before about why trekking poles changed downhill hiking for me, and Piestewa’s long staircase descent proves it.
South Mountain Park
If steep summits aren’t your thing, South Mountain is the antidote. It’s one of the largest city parks in the country, with more than 16,000 acres of saguaro slopes, dark boulders and long, gentle trails. You can pick a flat out-and-back through the cactus, or drive the Summit Road up to Dobbins Lookout for the classic city view without the climb. It’s also the easiest place in town to find quiet on a December morning.
Whatever you pick, carry more water than a 60-degree morning seems to need. The dry air pulls moisture out of you without the sweaty warning you’d get at home.
The Day Trip: Superstitions at Lost Dutchman
Give one day of your week to the Superstition Mountains. Lost Dutchman State Park sits at the foot of those jagged cliffs near Apache Junction, roughly 40 miles east of downtown, and in December the light on the rock face is soft and golden all morning. Day use is $10 per vehicle with one person or $20 per vehicle with two to four people, per Arizona State Parks.
For a mixed group, the Treasure Loop is the move. It’s about 2.4 miles with a steady climb to a bench of rock formations and big views back over the valley, and it’s doable for kids who can hike a couple of hours. Stronger hikers can push higher toward the Flatiron, but that’s a serious, steep day that needs an early start and every minute of December daylight. Either way, pack lunch so you don’t spend daylight in a restaurant line.
Lights After Dark: Which Ones I’d Pay For
This is where December Phoenix shines: holiday lights done the desert way, with cactus, paper luminarias and evenings mild enough to linger. There are three big options.
Las Noches de las Luminarias at Desert Botanical Garden
If I could pick only one, this is it. Desert Botanical Garden has run Luminarias since 1978, and the trails glow with more than 8,000 paper luminaria bags plus lights in the trees. For 2026 the event runs November 27 to 29, December 4 to 6, 11 to 13, 16 to 23 and 26 to 31, then January 1 to 3, from 5 to 9:30 p.m. with timed entry. Adult tickets are $39.95 to $44.95 depending on the date, and kids 2 to 17 are $18.95.
Two calendar details matter. There’s no event on December 24 or 25, and the early-December dates are weekends only. Families who want photos with Sonoran Santa and Mrs. Claus should aim for December 18 to 23. Buy ahead; popular nights sell out.
ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo
ZooLights is the bigger, brighter, more kid-focused option. It runs nightly from November 25, 2026 through January 15, 2027, from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m., and general tickets are $35 (children 2 and under are free). Most animals aren’t visible at night, Monday through Wednesday are the least crowded, and the zoo’s own tip is to arrive around 7:30 or 8 p.m., after the first wave. There’s also a Sensory Friendly night on Tuesday, December 8, with smaller crowds, quieter music and less flashing. It needs a separate ticket.
Glendale Glitters
Then there’s the free one. Glendale Glitters turns roughly 16 blocks of historic downtown Glendale, centered on Murphy Park, into a field of more than two million lights. The lighting ceremony is November 27, and the lights stay on nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. through January 1, 2027. There’s free parking in the city garage on Palmaire Avenue. Skip the packed kickoff weekend and go on a mid-December weeknight.
Booking Now: Cars, Flights and the Fiesta Bowl Night
Phoenix is a driving city, and the hikes and light shows are spread across a huge valley. You’ll want a car, reserved early.
Hertz expects its busiest December pickup days to be December 23, 24 and 26, and its data points to lower daily rates on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays through November and December. I walked through the full rebooking approach in my seven-seat holiday rental playbook, and it applies to any car size: book a refundable rate now, then keep checking and rebook if the price drops.
Flights follow the same holiday pattern as everywhere else. The days just before Christmas are expensive, and the day after is often worse. If you haven’t booked yet, my 2026 holiday flight booking playbook covers the date-shifting tricks I use.
And mark December 30. The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl is a College Football Playoff quarterfinal that night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, and two traveling fan bases will fill West Valley hotels. If you’re staying through New Year’s, base yourself in Scottsdale or Tempe for that stretch, or lock a refundable room now before the matchups are announced.
Still torn between desert and beach? My team ran the numbers on pricing a Caribbean Christmas against driving south.
A Sample Seven-Day Rhythm
- Day 1: Land, pick up the car, and catch an easy Hole-in-the-Rock sunset. Early night.
- Day 2: Piestewa Peak at 7:30 a.m., a long lunch, pool time, then Luminarias in the evening.
- Day 3: Lost Dutchman and the Treasure Loop, with a picnic lunch in the park. Back by dark.
- Day 4: Rest day: museums, a Scottsdale stroll, and a free weeknight walk at Glendale Glitters.
- Day 5: Sunrise attempt at Echo Canyon, with Piestewa or South Mountain as the backup.
- Day 6: South Mountain’s flat trails or the Summit Road drive, then ZooLights after 7:30 p.m.
- Day 7: A slow breakfast in the sun and a midday flight, so you’re not driving to Sky Harbor in the dark.
The Warm-Day, Cold-Night Kit
Nothing here is exotic. It just covers the gap between a bright 66-degree noon and a 45-degree evening in a light show.
- Shade for your face: A wide brim matters more than you’d think in winter, because the low December sun hits you straight in the eyes on east-facing morning trails. The Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat packs flat and has a chin strap.
- Mineral sunscreen: Clear desert winter sun still burns. I keep a tube of Blue Lizard Sensitive Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 in the hip pocket. Our sister site has a good piece on keeping up with your skin as the seasons change.
- SPF lip balm: The dry air is what actually gets you. A stick of Sun Bum SPF 30 Lip Balm lives in my jacket pocket.
- Water you’ll actually carry: For short summit hikes, a Hydro Flask 32 oz Wide Mouth Bottle keeps water cold at noon and doesn’t freeze your hands at dawn.
- Hands-free hydration for long days: On the Superstitions day I switch to a small pack with a bladder, like the CamelBak Rogue Light Hydration Pack, so I drink steadily.
- Shoes with grip: Phoenix trails are loose, ball-bearing gravel over rock. A trail shoe like the Merrell Moab 3 Hiking Shoe grips better than running shoes on Piestewa’s polished steps.
- Poles for the descent: A light, collapsible pair like the Cascade Mountain Tech Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles straps onto a daypack for scrambles and saves your knees on the way down.
- A headlamp, even for a “day” hike: With a 5:25 sunset, any delay puts you in the dark. The Black Diamond Spot 400 Headlamp weighs almost nothing and beats a phone flashlight on rock.
- A real layer for the light shows: Standing still at 45 degrees feels colder than hiking at 45 degrees. A Amazon Essentials Lightweight Packable Puffer Jacket stuffs into its own pocket by day and goes on as soon as the sun drops.
- Something for your nose: After desert air and a dry plane cabin, Ayr Saline Nasal Gel keeps me from waking up feeling like I’ve been breathing sand.
The Mistakes I’d Skip This Time
I’d skip the late-afternoon summit. Starting Camelback at 3:45 with a mixed group feels like plenty of time. On a ten-hour day, it isn’t.
I’d skip planning big nights for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Luminarias is dark both nights and many restaurants run short hours. Use those days for a long hike or a slow day by the pool, and save the ticketed shows for the 22nd, 23rd or the week after.
And I’d skip the summer wardrobe. Bring shorts for noon, absolutely. But the moment you’ll remember from a Phoenix December is standing on a garden path between thousands of glowing paper bags, breath barely visible, saguaros black against the last blue of the sky. You’ll enjoy it a lot more in a jacket.
That’s the Phoenix December trade: bright mornings on the mountains, lazy warm afternoons, evenings full of light. Plan around the short day, book the car early, and come home with a midwinter tan.