Best Cheap Chill '96

Best Cheap Thrill

Reid Park
Broadway and Country Club Road

READERS' PICK: Nowhere else in the city will you find concrete turtles running up a hillside, a lake full of ducks, an outdoor amphitheater, lions, tigers and bears (oh, my), a rose garden, baseball diamond and neon door all under the same spread of blue sky and rolling green lawns. Strap on that helmet and ride your bike around the path that circles Reid Park, and find these and many other dirt-cheap delights just waiting to be reinvented.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Golf 'n' Stuff, 6503 E. Tanque Verde Road.

STAFF PICK: Nothing compares to a summer afternoon spent at one of Tucson's public waterslides, and at 25 cents for kids and 50 cents for adults, you can and should indulge as often as you like. Pools at Menlo, Mansfield, El Pueblo and Freedom parks all have slides open throughout the summer months. Lifeguards agree the Freedom Park slide is the fastest. Climb the staircase to the top and stand hunched and freezing (yes, it is possible to achieve this sensation in the middle of a Tucson summer) and await your turn at wild abandon.

1998 Winner: The Municipal Pools
1997 Winner: Reid Park Zoo
1995 Winner: Reid Park Zoo