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Edited by Rebecca Mong

Orienteering Course

City slickers who fear finding their way in the great outdoors can take a step in the right direction on Phoenix's Papago Park orienteering course.

Set up by the Phoenix Parks, Recreation and Library Department, the course helps novices learn to use maps and compasses in unmarked terrain. (Intermediate and advanced courses also are available, and there also are courses at North Mountain and South Mountain parks; Papago Park's is the largest.) An “easy” outing, the Papago course snakes through hilly desert and takes about an hour to complete. Maps, information, and compasses are supplied for beginners.

The course is open only to groups of 15 or more, but individuals and families can put their names on a waiting list, and they will be notified when to show up appropriately dressed and ready to become real outdoor folk.

To inquire, contact the parks' Central District Office, 1001 N. 52nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85008; (602) 256-3220.

Yuma Train Tours

Turn back the clock to yesteryear on the historic Yuma Valley Railway for a scenic, twohour, 24-mile tour of the lower Colorado River valley. Riding comfortably in a fully restored 1922 Pullman coach, you'll head south along the river, past the historic waterfront and through the desert to Gadsden. Along the borderlands, you'll see California and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja and pass through the Cocopah Indian Reservation. Chances are you'll spot some of the wildlife that live along the river. You'll also see the vast fields of produce that help make Yuma the “salad” capital of Arizona.

The Yuma Valley Railway has scheduled runs from October 1 through May 31. From April 1 to May 31, the train runs every Saturday, leaving the station at 10 A.M. and returning at noon.

Fares are $5 to $9, adults; free, under age four.

For more information (lunch and dinner runs, train rental for special events), contact Yuma Valley Railway, P.O. Box 10305, Yuma, AZ 85366-8305; (602) 783-3456.

EVENTS Culinary Festival April 12-17; Scottsdale

The tasteful Scottsdale Culinary Festival has been drawing huge crowds (60,000 last year) since 1978. This year's food extravaganza promises everything from intimate wine tastings and the pricey - $175 per person - Le Tour Culinaire to family favorites (free admission) like the Great Arizona Picnic and Concerts Under the Stars. Information: 994-2787.

Copperdust Stampede Rodeo April 15-16; Globe

The first rodeo performance of this PRCA event takes place Friday at 7:30 P.M. at the Gila County Fairgrounds. A 10 A.M. parade Saturday through downtown will be followed by a 1 P.M. rodeo performance. Dances begin at 9 P.M. both nights with a highlight of each to be the Wrangler Best Buns Contest last year a six-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl took top honors. Rodeo admission is $5, adults; $4, seniors; $1 kids; free, children under six. Information: 425-4495.

Peacock Jazz Festival April 16; Glendale

Flocks of peacocks roam the grassy knolls and brick pathways of Sahuaro Ranch Park, the setting for this annual event featuring top regional and local performers. The music begins at 3 P.M. and lasts till 10 P.M. but arrive early to see the park's historic buildings, picnic, and, of course, watch the peacocks.

Concession stands offering beverages and international foods will be available. Free admission. Information: 435-4108.

La Vuelta de Bisbee April 27-May 1; Bisbee

During this big annual bike race, everybody's eye is on the clock which is unusual for Bisbee, an old copper mining town known nowadays as much for its laid-back lifestyle as its rip-roaring frontier past. Top amateurs, including past Olympians, compete in a series of races that mostly begin and end at the convention center in historic old Bisbee. Probably the best time for spectators is the weekend. On Saturday there'll be a chili cook-off with public tasting and a children's bicycle contest; Sunday will include the Criterium, a multilap race up and down the hills of Old Bisbee, followed by the awards presentation. Watching's free and so are most of the activities. Information: 432-5795.

Chili Championship April 30; Bullhead City

Bullhead City, a town that knows a thing or two about hot stuff its summer temps make the national news - once again hosts the Arizona State Chili Championship Cook-off. Held at Rotary Park, the cook-off will feature more than one hundred hopeful chili chefs making the most of such ingredients as possum, rattlesnake, buffalo, kanga-

roo

and even beef. All-day activities start at 9 A.M.; the cookoff starts at noon, and at 3 P.M., there'll be free chili samples. Also on tap: live music, carnival rides, arts and crafts, game and food booths. Free admission. Information: 763-5885.

Saguaros grow only in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico, with a few minor exceptions in California. In Arizona it is illegal to remove them from their natural surroundings without a permit or to damage them.

CONSERVE Saguaros