The Crosscut Canal Trail is a flat, paved multi-use path that runs about two miles along the historic Crosscut Canal, linking Tempe Town Lake with Papago Park on the border of Tempe, Phoenix and Scottsdale. Smooth and level, it is built for everyone, walkers, runners, cyclists, families with strollers, skaters and wheelchair users, and it forms a key connector in the Valley's extensive network of canal-side paths.

Though it follows a working irrigation canal through an urban setting, the route is surprisingly scenic, running near the red sandstone Papago Buttes with their landmark Hole-in-the-Rock formation and passing close to the Desert Botanical Garden, the Phoenix Zoo and the Papago Park trails. It ties into the paths around Tempe Town Lake at its south end and the wider canal system, so it is easy to extend a ride or walk for miles in either direction.

Being fully exposed pavement in the low desert, it is hot in summer, so early mornings and the cooler months are most comfortable, and there is shade and water at the parks it connects rather than along the canal itself. For an easy, accessible, car-free way to travel between two of the East Valley's favorite green spaces, or simply for a relaxed urban cruise, the Crosscut Canal Trail is a local staple.