Valley. The starkly beautiful and fantastically shaped buttes and mesas of this valley are the quintessential western landscape. See p. 318.
Old Tucson Studios: Originally constructed as a movie set, this back lot and amusement park provides visitors with a glimpse of the most familiar Old West—the Hollywood West. Sure, the shootouts and cancan revues are silly, but it’s all in good fun. See p. 365.
Monument Valley, the quintessential Western movie backdrop.
Cowboy Poetry Festivals: From heroes on horseback to poets on the prairie, it’s been a long, lonesome ride for the American cowboy. At several events around the state, you can hear how some cowboys deal with the hardships and happiness of the cowboy life. See “Arizona Calendar of Events” on p. 30.
Tombstone: Unlike Old Tucson—the reel Old West—Tombstone is a genuine historic town, the real Old West. However, “the town too tough to die” was reincarnated long ago as a tourist attraction, with gunslingers in the streets, stagecoach rides, and shootouts at the O.K. Corral. See p. 454.
The best Native American Ruins & Rock Art
Tonto National Monument: Reached via the Apache Trail scenic road, this archaeological site east of Phoenix has one of Arizona’s few easily accessible cliff dwellings, where visitors can walk around inside the ruins, under the watchful eye of a ranger. See p. 161.
Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park: Reconstructed to look the way they might have appeared 700 years ago, these Phoenix-area ruins provide a bit more cultural context you’ll get at others in the state, making them especially good for kids. See p. 161.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument: While most of Arizona’s ruins are built of stone, this massive structure south of Phoenix is built of packed desert soil. Inscrutable and perplexing, Casa Grande seems to rise from nowhere. See p. 162.
Montezuma Castle National Monument: Located just off I-17 south of Sedona, this is one of Arizona’s best preserved cliff dwellings, its adobe surface still intact. Nearby Montezuma Well also has some small ruins. See p. 185.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument: Small cliff dwellings up and down the stunning length of Canyon de Chelly can be viewed from overlooks; even better, take a tour into the canyon itself to see some ruins up close. See p. 310.
Wupatki National Monument: North of Flagstaff, visitors can walk around several Sinagua village ruins, including a three-story, 100-room pueblo with a ball court. See p. 263.
V Bar V Heritage Site: The extensive petroglyphs at this national forest site near Sedona have an intriguing astronomical connection: At different times of the year, shadows fall on different images on the rock wall. See p. 195.
Rock Art Ranch: Set in a remote canyon southeast of Winslow, this private historic site preserves one of the most extensive collections of petroglyphs in the state. You can visit only by reservation; if you’re lucky, you’ll have the place all to yourself. See p. 290.
The most offbeat Travel Experiences
Taking a Vortex Tour in Sedona: Crystals and pyramids are nothing compared to the power of the Sedona vortexes, which just happen to be in the middle of some gorgeous scenery. Organized tours shuttle believers from one vortex to the next. If you offer it, they will come. See p. 193.
Gazing at the Stars: Stargazers will find plenty to keep them sleepless in the desert as they peer at the stars through telescopes at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff (p. 261) or Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson (p. 360). North of Flagstaff, you can even stay at a B&B that doubles as an astronomical observatory.
Marveling at a Meteorite Crater: West of the town of Winslow, you can visit the world’s best-preserved meteorite impact crater, 2½ miles in circumference and 550 feet deep. In the 1960s, NASA even used the crater to train moon-bound astronauts. See p. 290.
Sleeping in a Wigwam: Back in the heyday of Route 66, the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook lured passing motorists with its unusual architecture: concrete, wigwam-shaped cabins. Today, this little motel is still a must for anyone on a Route 66 pilgrimage. See p. 305.
Exploring the Titan Missile Museum: Want to find out what it feels like to have your finger on “the button”? At this former ICBM missile silo, now decommissioned and open to the public, you can find out—in a blastprotected control room more than 100 feet underground. See p. 374.
You can still spend a night in the Wigwam Motel, a classic Route 66 experience.
Stopping to Smell the Rose Tree: The town of Tombstone in southeastern Arizona is best known as the site of the shootout at the O.K. Corral, but the “town too tough to die” also boasts the world’s largest rose tree. See p. 457.
The best Active Vacations
Rafting the Grand Canyon: Whether you go for 3 days or 2 weeks, nothing else comes even remotely close to the excitement of a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. Sure, the river is crowded with groups in the summer, but the grandeur of the canyon more than makes up for that. See p. 241.
Hiking into the Grand Canyon or Havasu Canyon: Not for the unfit or the faint of heart, a hike down into the Grand Canyon or Havasu Canyon is a journey through millions of years set in stone. This strenuous trip takes plenty of advance planning. There’s both a campground and a lodge at the bottom of each canyon, so you can choose to make this trip with either a fully loaded backpack or just a light daypack. See p. 235 and 276.
Riding the Range at a Guest Ranch: Yes, there are still cowboys in Arizona. They ride ranges all over the state, and so can you if you book a stay at one of Arizona’s guest ranches (once known as dude ranches). You might even
Valley. The starkly beautiful and fantastically shaped buttes and mesas of this valley are the quintessential western landscape. See p. 318.
