What is Outrider?
Old Town Scottsdale is a low town. Most of its buildings are one or two stories, and that’s why a seventh-floor roof can feel like a mountaintop. Outrider Rooftop Lounge sits on top of the Canopy by Hilton Scottsdale Old Town, at First Street and Marshall Way, and from its glass rail you can see across the whole of Old Town to Camelback Mountain.
It opened with the hotel in October 2020, and it quickly became one of the best-known rooftops in the city. Phoenix New Times describes it as an L-shaped lounge running along the north and west sides of the building. A small indoor bar opens onto a covered patio, which gives way to a sun deck. There are fire pits, desert-inspired murals, lounge seating and, past the bar, the hotel’s heated pool and cabanas. Camelback is the main view, but walk to the far side and you can pick out the red buttes of Papago Park and the Superstition Mountains beyond the pool.
The drinks lean local: craft beer from Arizona brewers and cocktails with Arizona ingredients, like a spicy prickly pear margarita and the Sonoran Sunset, made with Tucson’s Whiskey Del Bac, Aperol, lemon and mango. The kitchen sends up an afternoon menu and an evening menu of shareable plates.
It’s a pool deck in the daytime and a bar after that. The crowds come for the sunset, it turns 21 and over at 9 p.m., and on Saturdays a DJ plays from 7 to 10.
Getting a spot at the rail
Reserve, and think about timing. Outrider takes reservations in two-hour seatings on a rolling 30-day window through OpenTable. The rail fills well before sunset on nice weekends, so a reservation is the easiest way to be sure of a table. Book a slot that starts before the light turns gold and ends after dark.
Know the pool rules. The bar is open to anyone. The rooftop pool is for hotel guests, people who rent a cabana, and day-pass holders, and the hotel sells passes through ResortPass. If you’re staying at the Canopy, the elevator gives you an advantage: go up an hour before sunset and claim your spot.
Hours and age limits. Outrider is open every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. After 9 p.m. it’s 21 and over. In summer, go late. In winter, the fire pits make the evening comfortable and the sun sets early enough for an after-work drink.
Make a night of it. Have dinner first at Cobre Kitchen + Cocktails on the hotel’s ground floor, or walk to the Main Street galleries and Marshall Way on an ArtWalk Thursday. The Old Town nightlife district is about a fifteen-minute walk north. For something smaller and darker, Porters Western Saloon is a few blocks east on Brown Avenue.
Private events. Outrider books private parties from about 25 guests up to a 250-person rooftop event.
How a hotel roof became an Old Town hangout
The W Scottsdale opened on Camelback Road in 2008, just as the national financial crisis hit, and no new hotel followed in Old Town until 2020. In the meantime, Old Town’s bars multiplied at street level.
Miller Global Properties ended the drought with the Canopy, a 177-room hotel in the gallery district, and put its most valuable feature on the top floor. Dallas firm Studio 11 Design designed the hotel around desert colors and local art, and the roof got murals, fire pits and a clear line of sight to Camelback. The hotel opened in October 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, and an open-air bar suited the moment. Outrider soon became a place locals went whether or not they were staying.
Its success said something about the 2020s. Old Town’s earlier nightlife was built around the entertainment district’s clubs north of Indian School. Outrider offered something different on the south side: a view, a sunset and a drink, in the arts district. In October 2023, less than three years after opening, Miller Global sold the hotel to Dynamic City Capital for $102 million.
Six years on, Outrider has kept its place. Phoenix New Times included it in its 2025 guide to the Valley’s best rooftop bars and called it “tough to beat” for cocktails in the sunshine with excellent views. The view hasn’t changed, and at sunset, it’s still the best reason to come.