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Posted by : Arizona Office of Tourism
Grand Canyon National Park
One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Grand Canyon National Park is located entirely in northern Arizona. The Canyon, incised by the Colorado River, is immense, averaging 4,000 feet deep for its entire 277 miles. Nestled within are numerous side canyons abundant with greenery, wildlife, waterfalls, raging rapids and calm, glassy pools. The Canyon’s historic South Rim is open year-round and the more remote North Rim is closed in winter.
Sedona
Sedona is spectacularly set amidst towering red rocks and lush, oft-painted Oak Creek Canyon. Visitors can enjoy renowned shopping, elegant dining and spectacular resorts, in addition to several outdoor adventures such as hiking and biking. Sedona’s Oak Creek Canyon offers especially scenic vistas, particularly from September through November when a rainbow of rusts and golds showers the oak, sycamore and aspen trees.
Phoenix / Scottsdale
The Phoenix / Scottsdale area offers visitors the best of two worlds – luxurious resorts and spas, world-class golf courses, outstanding dining and shopping, and a sophisticated arts and cultural scene, all within steps of the rugged, thrill-a-minute adventures that await in the lush Sonoran Desert. Add in a near-perfect climate, a variety of activities and attractions and easy access via a bustling international airport and you have a destination sure to please even the most discerning travelers.
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Montezuma Castle National Monument, nestled into a limestone recess high above the flood plain of Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley, stands as one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. Though it is not a castle, and Montezuma was never there, the five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling served as a “high-rise apartment building” for prehistoric Sinagua Indians more than 600 years ago. Early settlers to the area assumed that the imposing structure was associated with the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but the castle was abandoned almost a century before Montezuma was born.
Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly, a National Monument, reflects one of the longest continuously inhabited landscapes of North America. Its distinctive architecture, artifacts, and rock imagery exhibit remarkable preservational integrity. Canyon de Chelly also sustains a living community of Navajo people, who are connected to a landscape of great historical and spiritual significance.
Kartchner Caverns State Park
Just south of Tucson, Kartchner Caverns State Park is home to some of the most spectacular cave formations in the United States including the Big Room and the Rotunda / Throne Room. Several different guided cave tours are available throughout the year. The park also includes numerous hiking and walking trails, campsites, a Discovery Center, interactive displays, theater with video program and gift shop.
Petrified Forest National Park
A surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science, the Petrified Forest National Park features one of the world’s largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, the multi-hued badlands of the Chinle Formation known as the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites, and displays of 225 million year old fossils.
Page/Lake Powell
Page/Lake Powell (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area) offers unparalleled opportunities for water-based and backcountry recreation. The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of southern Utah, encompassing scenic vistas, geologic wonders, and a panorama of human history. The park offers opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, backcountry hiking and four-wheel drive trips.
Monument Valley
Located on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona, Monument Valley is renowned for its rugged beauty as well as a quintessential example of the classic American West landscape. The area was made famous by numerous Western movies and television commercials that used Monument Valley as a backdrop. A scenic loop road offers spectacular views of the enormous rock formations,
Saguaro National Park
Saguaro National Park is composed of 80,000 acres of pristine, living desert where a remarkable variety of plants and animals thrive. The largest concentration of the majestic saguaro cactus flourishes here, along with palo verde trees, rare cacti, and wildflowers that bloom vividly in from March through August. Scenic loop drives, and more than 150 miles of hiking trails, ranging from flat and easy strolls in the Sonoran Desert to steep and rugged hikes into the Rincon Mountains attract visitors year round.
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