Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer at Lake Pleasant, Salt River
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - Monday marked another busy Memorial Day at Lake Pleasant and the Salt River.
Lake Pleasant
Before hitting the water, many people spent time at Pleasant Harbor Marina before hitting the water.
"It’s going to feel good to fall in the water today. It’s hot," a lake-goer named Samantha said.
Pleasant Harbor Marina at Lake Pleasant was packed with people on May 26 looking to do just that – hit the water.
"A lot of people come to use the facilities we have at the marina. Dillon's Barbecue, the slide, boat rentals, kayaks, the cruise boat, so we have a lot of general foot traffic out here. We’ll see a couple of hundred people down here just walking around, hundreds of boats waiting to get launched and out on the water, so it's pretty busy," said Joe Evans, Pleasant Harbor Marina Manager.
A new feature this year is the inflatable waterpark.
"We have a couple slides, jungle gyms, couple trampolines, you know, lots of fun on the lake," said Kristin Breum, the waterpark manager.
Another busy section of the recreation site is Go Paddle AZ.
"We do about 25 boards at all times, and we have about 25 kayaks," said Jared Sutter of Go Paddle AZ. "What’s nice is that we’re in the southeast corner. There’s no roads that lead to it. You can only get to by kayak and paddleboard, and our first three coves are no wake zones, so you can kinda really get out there and explore, but not have to deal with any major traffic."
Some of the first customers are mother and daughter, Savannah and Samantha. They hit the water often.
"I love paddling, and it’s fun to see the mountains," Savannah said.
"Usually we’re a little nervous, but we got here early," Samantha said.
All the lake-goers ended their fun-filled day with some delicious barbecue at Dillon's Bayou.
Tubers, along with law enforcement, out along the Salt River
Meanwhile, thousands of people flocked to the Salt River to kick off summer.
"Just having the best time of our lives!" said one person.
On May 26, cars cluttered the parking lot, as crowds lined up to rent their tubes.
"There’s a lot of people out here, but that’s OK. We are still having fun!" said one tuber.
Officials with Salt River Tubing say they are expecting around 15,000 people over the course of the Memorial Day weekend.
"This is one of the busiest holidays that we have here," said supervisor Matt Sass.
Sass said they have been open for floating for a few weeks, but it isn’t until Memorial Day that the numbers make a big splash.
"This really kicks it off. We are in full swing," said Sass. "We have all of our buses out here. Full staff. Everyone is done with school, so we have everyone out here."
Plenty of law enforcement vehicles are also in the area, with DUI enforcement teams keeping a close eye on any intoxicated drivers on area roadways.
"We do hire extra sheriffs, and we have them on standby just to help around," said Sass.
Tubing is open each weekend until the end of September.