Not sure what you want to do while visiting?
Top 10 things to do while in Arizona
HOST RECOMMENDATIONS
The Grand Canyon
Possibly the most popular natural attraction in the United States, and definitively the most popular in Arizona. Grand Canyon National Park encompasses 277 miles (446 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. The park is home to much of the immense Grand Canyon; a mile (1.6 km) deep, and up to 18 miles (29 km) wide. Layered bands of colorful rock reveal millions of years of geologic history. Grand Canyon is unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from the rim.
Lipan Point is a promontory located on the South Rim. This point is located to the east of the Grand Canyon Village along the Desert View Drive. There is a parking lot for visitors to Lipan Point. The trailhead to the Tanner Trail is located just before the parking lot. The view from Lipan Point shows a wide array of rock strata and the Unkar Delta area in the inner canyon. In 2007, the Hualapai Tribe opened the glass-bottomed Grand Canyon Skywalk on their property, Grand Canyon West.
Sedona
Sedona is an Arizona desert town near Flagstaff that’s surrounded by red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls and pine forests. Sedona has become a mecca for all sorts of communities: spiritual healers, mountain bikers, hikers, artists, nature photographers, and even filmmakers. This vibrant and stunning area of Arizona's ability to attract and accommodate so many walks of life has created and nurtured an eclectic, unique culture unlike anywhere you've ever experienced. On the town’s outskirts, numerous trailheads access Red Rock State Park, which offers bird-watching, hiking and picnicking spots.Sedona is truly one of a kind, and visiting Sedona will be an experience not easily forgotten.
A must-see is the Chapel of the Holy Cross!
Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Boyce Thompson Arboretum is the largest and oldest botanical garden in the state of Arizona. It is one of the oldest botanical institutions west of the Mississippi. The Arboretum is located in the Sonoran Desert on 392 acres (158.6 ha) along Queen Creek and beneath the towering volcanic remnant, Picketpost Mountain.
The Arboretum has a visitor center, gift shop, research offices, greenhouses, a demonstration garden, picnic area, and a looping 1.5-mile (2.4 km) primary trail that leads visitors through various exhibits and natural areas. The exhibits include a cactus garden, palm and eucalyptus groves, an Australian exhibit, South American exhibit, aloe garden and an herb garden. There are also side trails such as the Chihuahuan Trail, Curandero Trail, and High Trail.
Over 2600 species of arid land plants from around the world grow at the Arboretum. Agaves, aloes, boojum trees, cork oaks, jujube trees, legume trees, and, in the Eucalyptus grove, one of the largest red gum Eucalyptus trees ("Mr. Big") in the United States. Cacti and succulents grow extensively throughout the Arboretum. Visitors have seen bobcats, javelinas, coatimundis, rattlesnakes, gila monsters, hawks, hummingbirds, and vultures. 270 bird species have been spotted in the park.
Desert Botanical Garden
Founded by the Arizona Cactus and Native Flora Society in 1937, the garden now has more than 50,000 plants, in more than 4,000 taxa, one-third of which are native to the area, including 379 species, which are rare, threatened or endangered.
Of special note are the rich collections of agave (4,026 plants in 248 taxa) and cacti (13,973 plants in 1,320 taxa), especially the Opuntia sub-family. Plants from less extreme climate conditions are protected under shade houses. It focuses on plants adapted to desert conditions, including an Australian collection, a Baja California collection and a South American collection. Several ecosystems are represented: a mesquite bosque, semidesert grassland, and upland chaparral.
The Garden offers specialized tours, workshops, and lectures on desert landscaping and horticulture, nature art and photography, health and wellness.
Gertrude's Restaurant is right there and offers great nighttime outdoor seating. Make sure to call ahead! -Its gets busy on nice nights!
Biosphere II
Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe. It is a 3.14-acre structure originally built to be an artificial, materially closed ecological system, or vivarium. It remains the largest closed system ever created. Biosphere 2 was originally meant to demonstrate the viability of closed ecological systems to support and maintain human life in outer space as a substitute for Earth's biosphere. It was designed to explore the web of interactions within life systems in a structure with different areas based on various biological biomes.
Its seven biome areas were a 20,000 sq ft rainforest, an 9,100 sq ft ocean with a coral reef, a 4,800 sq ft mangrove wetlands, a 14,000 sq ft savannah grassland, a 15,000 sq ft fog desert, and two anthropogenic biomes: 27,000 sq ft)agricultural system and a human habitat with living spaces, laboratories and workshops. Below ground was an extensive part of the technical infrastructure.
Come tour one of the world's most unique facilities dedicated to the research and understanding of global scientific issues.
Tombstone / Bisbee
Step back in time and enjoy the Old West Atmosphere of the “Town Too Tough To Die!”, Tombstone, Arizona. Walk the very same streets where Wyatt Earp and his brothers enjoyed the company of the likes of Doc Holliday! Step inside the historic buildings where a game of Faro or Poker would have called to the weary miner or even inside the silver mine where that precious dollar was once earned! Stand where the legendary stories of the past actually occurred and encapsulate yourself in our authentic Wild West History!
Today Tombstone offers a glimpse into the past with historic attractions such as museums, history tours on foot, by stagecoach or trolley, underground mine experiences, paranormal adventures, shopping, dining and of course gunfight reenactments at the iconic O.K. Corral!
Continue your southern AZ journey to the quaint town of Bisbee, located in the Mule Mountains of southeast Arizona. Both the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum and the Bisbee Restoration Museum chronicle the city’s copper-mining past. The vast Queen Mine offers spectacular underground tours. Homes that once belonged to miners run-up alongside Tombstone Canyon from Old Bisbee to the historic town center. The grand Muheim Heritage House has 19th-century furniture, plus gardens and mountain views. Lots of cute shops and some great dining and nightlife to see!
Phoenix Art Museum
The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is 285,000 square feet. It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. A community center since 1959, it hosts festivals, live performances, independent art films and educational programs year-round. It also features The Hub: The James K. Ballinger Interactive Gallery, an interactive space for children; photography exhibitions through the museum's partnership with the Center for Creative Photography; the landscaped Sculpture Garden; dining and shopping.
If you are here on the Frist Friday of the month, Roosevelt Row’s Arts District is the place to start. Tour galleries, venues and art-related spaces to see a variety of artwork and to enjoy the spirit and culture of the city as you mingle with other residents and visitors. Downtown Phoenix hosts one of the nation’s largest, self-guided art walks every First Friday from 6 to 11pm, with free event shuttles available throughout downtown and are headquartered at the Phoenix Art Museum. Third Fridays showcase exhibition openings in dozens of galleries in the district. Other Fridays boast performances, artist spotlights and more.
Route 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66, also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the Route 66 television series, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. In John Steinbeck's classic American novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the road "Highway 66" symbolized escape and loss.
In Arizona, the highway originally covered 401 miles in the state. Along much of the way, US 66 paralleled I-40. It entered across the Topock Gorge, passing through Oatman along the way to Kingman. Between Kingman and Seligman, the route is still signed as SR 66. Notably, just between Seligman and Flagstaff, Williams was the last point on US 66 to be bypassed by an Interstate. The route also passed through the once-incorporated community of Winona. Holbrook contains one of the two surviving Wigwam Motels on the route.
There are 66 things to see and do on Route 66, including seeing Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, Williams, Flagstaff, Jerome, Seligman, Painted Desert and Petrified National Park, just to name a few.
San Xavier del Bac Mission
A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797. The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church's interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. It is a place where visitors can truly step back in time and enter an authentic 18th Century space.
The church retains its original purpose of ministering to the religious needs of its parishioners. Unlike the other Spanish missions in Arizona, San Xavier is still actively run by Franciscans, and continues to serve the native community by which it was built. Widely considered to be the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, the Mission hosts some 200,000 visitors each year. It is open to the public daily, except when being used for church services. The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, who have taught at the school since 1872, continue with their work and reside in the mission convent.
Also outside, something else unique to look for a cat and mouse. Legend has it that when the cat catches the mouse that the world will end, although no one appears to know why this scene is depicted on the front of the mission. Notice there are two cats and two mice, one of each in the bottom corners.
While in the Tuscon area, check out the Titan Missle Museum, the David Monthan Aircraft Boneyard tour, and the Pima Air & Space Museum. (can't you tell Adam, the pilot, wrote this section?)
Meteor Crater
Over 50,000 years ago space and earth came together when a huge iron-nickel meteorite, approximately 150 feet wide and weighing several hundred thousand tons, impacted an area outside of Flagstaff, Arizona, with a force 150 times greater than an atomic bomb. The result of this impact was devastation for miles and the creation of the giant bowl-shaped cavity we call Meteor Crater, which measures 550 feet deep and almost a mile wide.
Nestled on its north rim, Meteor Crater Visitor Center is one of the most popular attractions in Northern Arizona. Visitors can choose to experience the Crater in an air-conditioned indoor viewing area, outside on one of the observation decks and self-guided trails, or on a guided tour along the rim. If you have pets, they offer an outdoor Pet Ramada for their safety while you enjoy the attractions.
We recommend driving thru the quaint towns of Payson, Pine and Strawberry. The Airport Cafe in Payson breakfasts can't be beaten!