Most famous for the Grand Canyon, Arizona has other canyons, forest, deserts, outdoor adventures, and sophisticated cities.
Arizona Travel Guide
Arizona is best-known for the Grand Canyon, one of the USA’s top natural attractions, but there is much more to this state in the south-west USA than just that. People picture Arizona as being one big desert, and while it is true that the Sonoran Desert makes for some stunning scenery here, Arizona also has large forests, sophisticated cities, and you can even go skiing in winter.
Canyons
The Grand Canyon is only the biggest and most spectacular of Arizona’s canyons. There are many more which will take your breath away and which anywhere else in the world would be much more famous than they are. One of the most popular with local people is the Canyon de Chelly, which is not only beautiful but filled with history. It is today on the land of the Navajo Nation, and in the past was home to not only the Navajo but other Native American tribes. The remains of their homes can still be seen here.
Native American Culture
Native American culture is one of the major attractions in Arizona, and there are many sites to visit all over the state. The culture is still practiced and celebrated, and Native American arts and crafts items, and in particular jewelry and woven baskets, make wonderful authentic gifts and souvenirs.
The Wild West
You will find a more rounded story of the old wild west in a visit to Arizona. Not only will you discover the Native American side of the story, especially in places like the Heard Museum in Phoenix and by visiting the Indian Reservations, you will also hear the truth behind the stories told in western movies and TV shows. Numerous cowboy movies were filmed in Monument Valley, which is ironically on land that is now within the Navajo Nation Reservation. The cowboy story is also told in places like Old Tucson Studios, which is still a working film studio as well as being a theme park, and in real life western towns like Tombstone.
In the south of Arizona you will find the more typical desert towns and cities like Tombstone and Tucson. North of here is the main city, Phoenix, which has spread so much in recent years that it is now the 6th largest in the United States. It is the only part of Arizona where you will find modern urban sprawl – but you will also find luxury resorts, museums and galleries, great shopping, and all to a mountain backdrop.
New Age, Old Times
Further north are towns that are very different from each other, like the New Age town of Sedona, the old mining town of Jerome, and Route 66 towns like Flagstaff and Williams that have their own great character.
And north of these is the unique and unmissable Grand Canyon, one of the natural wonders of the world.
