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Introducing Southwest
Welcome to iconic America, the luscious backdrop of movie Westerns and the red-rock land of limitless horizons. Time has etched itself on these yawning landscapes, carving white-water canyons, soaring buttes and formations of psychedelic sandstone beyond compare. Chunky rusted jewels of mile-long freight trains rumbling through towns like Flagstaff and Tuscon hark back to a distant era, and insane art houses dot lonely rural routes. From ghost towns to spa towns, mysterious space aliens to Route 66 Americana, so many themes invite exploration that road trips barely seem to scratch the surface, never lasting long enough to experience its breadth.
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Ranging from the Grand Canyon National Park to the Mexican border and taking in the states of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, the Southwest can seem like one enormous park, alternately inhabited by saguaro cacti, high-elevation evergreens and barren tumbleweed desert. Its human population has the same variety, with Anglo, Native American and Hispanic residents forming a unique tri-cultural mix. There’s plenty of small-town quirk but rarely any big-city smirk – people take it slow and always have time to stop and chat. And of course there’s Las Vegas, the neon-clad desert oasis that never bothers to sleep.
It’s impossible to see it all, despite all frenzied attempts. So pull up a patio chair at sunset, shuck your shoes and savor the film-finale sky.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
Tips & articles
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Some like it hot: green chile tour of New Mexico
26 August 2009
New Mexicans love their chile. Welcome signs on the interstates feature huge red and green chiles, red...
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Southwest USA: old West & silver screen towns
17 August 2009
Hollywood has long had a love affair with America’s Wild West of yesteryear. Southwestern towns in Arizona,...
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Southwest USA by train
12 August 2009
Gaze out your window at the plaintive desert of New Mexico and Arizona, stroll downtown Santa Fe and...
