Scottsdale Off-Road and Off-Season : Upscale Phoenix suburb draws golfers, horseback riders and other outdoors lovers to its resorts.

From all the Rolls-Royces steaming down Scottsdale Road these days, one might get the idea that this town is an exclusive haven for the well-heeled--those with money in the bank, cattle on the ranch and a few oil wells pumping here and there. Yet compared to many upscale resort destinations in the United States and abroad, Scottsdale is surprisingly affordable, particularly in the spring and summer months ahead.

So what’s the big attraction? Start with the fact that Scottsdale is smack dab in the midst of the lush Sonoran Desert, the greenest and certainly one of the most beautiful deserts anywhere in the world. Local officials say they expect the upcoming spring season to blaze with more wildflowers than during any year this century. That’s good news for residents of the “Valley of the Sun,” who, like us, have endured a wetter-than-normal winter since the storms that plagued Southern California moved right through the Scottsdale-Phoenix area.

Then there’s the seemingly endless supply of golf courses (133 in all) and tennis courts, plus horseback riding, hot-air ballooning and, during the month of March, major league baseball spring training games.

To its credit, Scottsdale has differed from big brother Phoenix by living and growing in harmony with the desert. Building codes permit no structure to be more than three stories tall. No blinking neon or gaudy signs intrude on the saguaro ( sue-war-oh ) cacti, palm and citrus trees that form a natural part of the cityscape.

The Zagat annual survey of hotels and resorts has just put the Scottsdale-Phoenix area at the very top of its list of most desirable U.S. destinations for vacation or business travelers. According to the survey, Scottsdale finished ahead of the likes of Honolulu, Palm Springs, Miami, San Francisco and 32 other well-known and popular cities and resorts.

Scottsdale was founded in 1888 but wasn’t incorporated until 1951, when the town budget still was doled from a cigar box in the fire station. Its rise in little more than four decades to an active, vibrant community borders on the phantasmagoric. Indeed, judging from the numbers of Germans, English, Canadians and other foreign types we met on a recent visit, the word has gone far beyond our shores.

Frank Lloyd Wright, perhaps the greatest American architect of the 20th Century, in 1937 began a bold new experiment with 23 young men and women apprentices in Scottsdale and the Sonoran Desert. They built Taliesin West, his home and now an architectural school, using boulders and sand from the desert floor for his masterpiece of desert sculpture.

“Our new desert camp belonged to the Arizona desert as though it had stood there during creation,” Wright once wrote. As cantankerous as he could be at times, Wright would probably approve of the way today’s Scottsdale fits into its lovely desert environment.

Getting settled in: Scottsdale itself grew up around the Safari Resort, one of the town’s oldest, and still within a comfortable walk of shopping, night life, good restaurants and other diversions. Set on 12 acres of manicured grounds, palm and citrus trees, the Safari has two pools and a whirlpool, a putting green, horseshoe pit and guest laundry.

The bedrooms are bright and cheerful, some with patios, others with kitchenettes, each with its own refrigerator. Safari’s bar has a happy hour that includes a free buffet of self-made tacos and hamburgers.

A few miles north of town, Resort Suites is dedicated to the dedicated golfer, with enough golf packages for anyone’s budget and time. There are also three pools, a whirlpool spa and exercise room, an on-site deli and restaurant.

One-, two- and four-bedroom suites all have kitchens and a bath for each bedroom, the largest units being the most popular. There’s also a heli-pad, and management pushes its Heli-Golf for foursomes who wish to shoot a round in Sedona, Wickenberg or Tucson, gourmet picnic lunch included.

The Scottsdale Plaza Resort caters to a wide variety of recreational interests, with packages that range from a 12-course golfers’ dream to a desert Jeep-tour special. The resort, set on 40 acres beneath Camelback Mountain, includes five outdoor pools, three spas (including Arizona’s largest), tennis and racquetball courts. All guest rooms, including the 180 suites, have fully stocked refrigerators, and there are two fine restaurants and two lounges.

The Holiday Inn is dead center of Scottsdale’s Old Town, right on the grassy Civic Center Green. The lobby and spacious bedrooms are done in soothing desert colors, and there’s also a pool and tennis court.

The inn has a rotisserie bar and grill, but our choice would be Jacqueline’s Marketplace & Cafe just across the green. It’s a very attractive and informal place serving imaginative daily specials at moderate prices. And it has an espresso bar and a deli selection of cheeses, wursts and local specialties to go--which you’ll probably want to take to the green itself on weekends, when there are free concerts.

Regional food and drink: Nothing really unusual to get excited about here, but the Southwest’s passion for steaks, ribs and assorted other barbecues is fulfilled in a number of places. Of course, there are many fine Tex-Mex restaurants, but on our most recent visit, we didn’t have time to dine at an old favorite of ours and many locals--Los Olivos (7328 E. Second St.), a family-run affair since 1946. It’s very atmospheric, and the food in the past has been excellent and authentic.

Good local dining: Everyone in town seems to consider Pischke’s (7217 E. First St.) a second home, from former U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater to locals and visitors who keep the place crammed at mealtime. The decor ranges from awful art to a little-better collection of baseball caps, but the marvelous food and infectious camaraderie more than make up for it. A lunchtime menu of sandwiches and salads (most around $6) reaches almost to the desert horizon. The dinner menu gives you six versions of chicken ($10), a few pastas and fresh seafood to go with the usual steaks and chops. Prices are moderate.

For those who will put up with a rather hokey but original 1882 stagecoach stop, Reata Pass, outside town (27500 N. Alma School Road), serves the heartiest steaks, ribs and chops, all cooked over mesquite wood. Owner Johnny Johnson is usually duded up as the town marshall; there’s live music every night for dancing inside or on the patios, and lessons twice a week for boot-scootin’ to the two-step. The steaks run from $11 up to $21 for a two-pound porterhouse, served with beans, corn on the cob and salad. The rattlesnake appetizer (in season, of course) goes for $9.95. There are also a couple of live rattlers (Norman and Esther) in their own cages, but Johnson wouldn’t think of grilling them as appetizers.

Three former college friends from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi combined their dining “South-by-Southwest” skills and met with raving success in Austin, Tex., before descending upon Scottsdale with the Z-Tejas Grill (7014 E. Camelback Road). In upscale Fashion Square, this very casual and very busy place has a menu that spans Deep South, Cajun and Southwest cooking with such as catfish beignets ($6.75), voodoo tuna blackened with soy mustard ($13.75) and pork roast Vera Cruz ($8.75) in a mole sauce with rice and black beans. The chicken breast stuffed with crab meat, grilled onions, roasted peppers and jack cheese ($10.75) seems to be a house specialty.

Going first-class: At the base of fabled Camelback Mountain on 130 green acres, the superb Phoenician resort gives its guests the ultimate in luxurious surroundings and amenities, highlighted by its 18-hole golf course, 11 tennis courts, numerous health-beauty-spa programs, and a daily children’s program ($35 full day, $18 half) that is by far the bet and most creative we’ve seen.

Everything about the Phoenician, from accommodations to dining to service, is of the highest order, drawing clients from the world’s four corners.

On your own: Golf, tennis, swimming and horseback riding are the big four in Scottsdale. Hot-air ballooning is also offered by numerous companies in the area, most of which provide pickup service from nearby resorts. Culturally, there are more than 80 art galleries. A popular and free-of-charge downtown art walk is offerd every Thursday evening, giving visitors a chance to meet local artists in their galleries and see their work.

Major league baseball’s Cactus League exhibition games begin in Scottsdale on Tuesday when the San Francisco Giants, who train here, play host to the Chicago Cubs at Scottsdale Stadium, a gem of a ballpark that opened last spring. The California Angels, whose spring home is in Tempe, are among five other teams that train in the Phoenix area. For Giants’ schedule and ticket information, call the team offices in Scottsdale at (602) 990-7972.

We heartily recommend a Jeep or horseback ride into the desert to marvel at the 400 varieties of cactus, and what must be an equal number of wildflower types. There are a number of good companies, but we like Arizona Bound Tours (5638 E. Thomas Road) for its Comanche guide Flint, an affable chap who wears his Comanche clothing and keeps kids and adults mesmerized with his knowledge of the desert and tall tales.

Guidebook: Scooting to Scottsdale

Getting there: Fly America West, Southwest or Delta from LAX to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. Current cost of an advance-purchase, round-trip ticket ranges $78-$118. Many Scottsdale hotels have airport pickup.

A few fast facts: Most hotel rates dive during summer, so always call ahead for the best deals and packages.

Where to stay: The Safari (4611 N. Scottsdale Road, 800-845- 4356; $102 B&B; double, dropping lower for spring, again for summer); Resort Suites (7677 E. Princess Blvd., 800-541-5203; $160 for a one-bedroom suite, dropping to $95, then $65); The Scottsdale Plaza Resort (7200 N. Scottsdale Road, 602-948-5000; $129 double, dropping to $109, then $71); Holiday Inn (7353 E. Indian School Road, 800-695-6995; $120 double through April 30, then lower); The Phoenician (6000 E. Camelback Road, 800-888- 8234; $280-$415 double until June 23, then $150-$275 through August).

For more information: Call the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce at (800) 877-1117, or write (7343 Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale, Ariz. 85251) for an 84-page color magazine giving everything one needs to know about the town: accommodations, dining, events, recreation, culture and maps.