A Southwestern spirit, an upscale market and a relaxed pace of life
Set about 25 miles north of Scottsdale, marked by street names like Ho Hum Road and Tranquil Trail, the Sonoran Desert town of Carefree was founded in the 1950s as an upscale escape from the city, and has since lived up to its name. “People always ask, ‘is it really Carefree?’ And the answer is yes,” says longtime resident Robert Pfeiffer, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty. “It’s just got that relaxing, slow-paced, western lifestyle.” Most of Carefree’s roughly 4,000 full- and part-time residents are retirees, but its highly rated school system appeals to families with young children. Its desert and mountain landscapes appeal to artists and nature lovers, and there are tons of multi-use trails within 15 miles.
Despite growth in recent years, the community retains an outdoorsy, small-town feel. Lisa Stine, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty, has lived in Carefree since 1985 and says, “What I love about the area is that they make an effort to maintain the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert ,” she says. “All these years later, Cave Creek Road is two lanes each way, Scottsdale Road is two lanes each way, we have traffic lights to deal with driving here from The Valley, so it’s very different, but it's still very beautiful and well-preserved.”
Carefree is a Sonoran Desert town founded in the 1950s as an upscale escape from the city.
You can spot a flute player at the town center in the slow-paced city of Carefree.
Carefree lives up to its name with appropriately named streets like Tranquil Trail.
Carefree was developed while preserving the desert's natural beauty.
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Hiking, equestrian riding, golfing and stargazing
Carefree is surrounded by a few mountain ranges, including the New River Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains, and is set at an elevation of roughly 2,500 feet. “It can be 20 degrees cooler up here,” says longtime resident Nicola Morton, a Realtor with Realty One Group. “We see snow in the mountains every year.” Carefree's highest resident peak is Black Mountain, with a roughly 2-mile out-and-back trail, and about 6 miles north, Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area is home to Elephant Mountain and 7 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. The 30,000-acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve is about 15 miles south, with tons of its own multi-use trails.
While exploring the outdoors, Morton says locals are likely to see plenty of wildlife, including bobcats, deer, owls and hairy, pig-like javelinas (pronounced "hava-LEE-nahs.") According to Stine, since rattlesnakes are a part of life in the desert, residents need to be careful while out on trails and even in their own backyards. “I watch my step 365 days a year,” she says. "And while it’s rare for a dog or horse to get bitten, it does happen."
With an open desert landscape and little light pollution, Carefree is renowned for stargazing, and is currently in the process of becoming a certified Dark Sky City. The town is also home to Desert Forest Golf Club, and over a dozen more courses can be found within just a few miles. “Golf is a big thing in the Scottsdale area, so by living here, you still have access to most of those golf courses,” Pfeiffer said.
McDowell Sonoran Preserve offers multi-use trails for visitors from Carefree.
Carefree's Desert Forest Golf Course is designed to the contours of the native ground.
Black Mountain Trail in Cave Creek is a moderately difficult trail to hike.
The city of Carefree is surrounded by the New River Mountains.
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Southwestern and contemporary homes on large lots that maintain their natural vegetation
As of late 2024, the median home sale price in Carefree is $1.3 million, compared to just under $1 million in neighboring Cave Creek. "Carefree is more expensive on average than Cave Creek because there are fewer homes in Carefree,” Morton says. She adds that Carefree also has less variation in its housing options. Still, there's no lack of inventory here, and new homes are being built. According to Pfeiffer, Carefree has strict zoning rules; delicate native plants like Saguaro cacti have to be carefully preserved during lot clearing, and a home's design has to consider its natural surroundings. “They like the homes to kind of disappear into the Sonoran Desert,” Pfeiffer says. Homes here are generally set on multi-acre lots, but Stine says, “There's not a lot of zoning for horses in Carefree—that’s more of a Cave Creek thing."
Many homes in Carefree are designed to blend with its natural surroundings.
The median home price in Carefree is $1.3 million.
Saguaro cacti are carefully preserved during home construction in Carefree.
Plenty of new custom homes are being built in Carefree.
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A walkable town center with local galleries, shops and eateries
Carefree’s highly walkable town center is the epicenter of all activity. There's plenty of public parking, and the sidewalks are lined with art galleries and boutiques, some selling Native American-made jewelry and crafts. The eateries, cafes and coffee shops here are all locally owned, and each has an outdoor patio; locals tend to dine outside much of the year, but during the sweltering summers, indoors in air conditioning is the place to be. Restaurants here are lively during the day, but things get quiet when the sun goes down. For a kid-free night out, residents can head to Cave Creek.
The town center is anchored by the 4-acre Carefree Desert Gardens, a botanical garden with art installations and an outdoor pavilion that hosts live entertainment and community events, including outdoor yoga and the Friday farmers market. Also in the town center is a Bashas’ grocery store and the post office where all Carefree residents go to pick up their mail. “Postal workers don’t deliver mail to our homes in Carefree, so you need a P.O. box at the post office,” Stine said. “It’s actually kind of neat because you're always bumping into people you know there."
In 2024, the town council unanimously voted to approve a 23-acre, multi-use development called Carefree Quarter at the intersection of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road; Carefree Quarter will include dining, retail and commercial spaces, and is slated for completion at the end of 2026.
Plenty of sculptures are displayed at the Carefree Desert Gardens.
Some boutiques at the Carefree town center sell Native American-made jewelry and crafts.
Bashas' is a popular grocery store located at the Carefree town center.
All Carefree residents pick up their mail at the post office.
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An artistic community with a landscape that inspires
“Carefree is really known as an arts community,” Esmay said. “There are lots of artists who live here.” According to Pfeiffer, having an art studio in a home is “not a neutral” factor in the decision-making process among homebuyers. “There’s often a criteria that there’s a space for a studio,” he said. According to Morton, the desert landscape offers plenty of inspiration for local artists. “The sunsets here are absolutely amazing,” she said. “The reds and blues are so vivid in the local southwestern art, and that’s because it looks that way in real life.” For a week in November, the Hidden in the Hills event invites residents on free, self-guided tours of local artists’ private studios, which are often in their homes. “It’s really fun to explore the area and meet the artists,” Morton said.
Art galleries in Carefree display works by local artists.
Carefree's desert landscape provides inspiration to local artists.
Artists in Carefree commonly use reds and blues to depict the southwestern landscape.
There are many art galleries located at the Carefree town center.
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A highly rated school district with standout specialized elementary curriculums
Students in Carefree are served by the Cave Creek Unified School District, which earns an overall A-minus rating from Niche. Serving less than 5,000 students from prekindergarten through 12th grade, the district has five elementary schools, each with a different area of focus. “It’s really amazing what all the elementary schools do,” Morton said. “Each has a specialty. One teaches kids in Spanish, one is French, one is Chinese, one incorporates horses. They all have different avenues.” The district has one middle and one high school, and high schoolers can also enroll in the Academy of Excellence online program.
The Annunciation Catholic School is a K-8 school in Cave Creek.
Black Mountain Elementary School is located in Pinnacle Peak.
Sonoran Trails Middle School is located in Pinnacle Peak.
Kids can attend Cactus Shadows High, which earns a B rating from Niche.
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A lack of public transportation, with employers in Phoenix and Scottsdale
Loop 101 is about 15 miles away for a commute to hubs throughout the Valley. “In the Valley, they say that if you’re driving less than 35 minutes to work, you’re doing great,” Stine says. Outside of the walkable town center, residents are dependent on their cars to get around. There's generally not much local traffic, though Morton notes that it’s often more congested during the winter months when all the snowbirds return. Abrazo Cave Creek Hospital is within 2 miles of most local homes, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is about 35 miles away.
A lower rate of violent and property crime than the state and national level
While Carefree has its own town marshal, it doesn't have a police department; instead, service is provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, which has an outpost in Cave Creek. According to Crime Grade, 92% of all other U.S. cities experience violent crime at a higher rate than Carefree.
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