Sights in Southwest
-
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
Take a walk on the wild side at this animal park, an odd if entertaining mix of zoo, circus and theme park. Close encounters with slithering anacondas and boas are as much part of your visit as Tiger Splash, the most popular show in which the magnificent creatures leap into a pool in pursuit of plastic toys and balloon bags. On a jeep safari you get to train your camera on grazing giraffes, lazing lions and romping rhinos. All in all, more than 400 formerly wild animals make their home here. Take I-17 exit 187 and head towards Cottonwood on Hwy 260 for about 3 miles, then hook a left on Verde Valley Justice Center Rd.
reviewed
-
Palatki Heritage Site
Thousand-year-old Sinagua cliff dwellings and rock art are good-enough reasons to brave the 9-mile dirt road leading to this enchantingly located archaeological site on the edge of the wilderness. There's a small visitor center and two easy trails suitable for strollers but not for wheelchairs. With only limited parking, reservations are required. No pets. True ruin groupies should ask here about exploring the Honanki Ruins, a further 3 miles north.
To get to the site, follow Hwy 89A west of the Y for about 10 miles, then hook a right on FR 525 (Red Canyon Rd, a dirt road) and follow it 8 miles north to the parking lot.
reviewed
-
Arboretum
The Arboretum is a lovely spot to rejuvenate your spirit and enjoy a picnic. Two short wood-chip trails enfold a meadow and wind beneath ponderosa pines, passing an herb garden, native plants, vegetables and wildflowers. The Arboretum offers tours (11am, 1pm and 3pm), as well as a summer adventure program for children aged four to 12. From Route 66 west of Milton Ave, follow Woody Mountain Rd 3.8 miles south – most of this stretch is unpaved but it should be driveable for most cars.
reviewed
-
Widforss Trail
Named after Gunnar Widforss, an early-20th-century artist who lived, worked, died and was buried at the Grand Canyon, the Widforss Trail meanders through stands of spruce, white fir, ponderosa pine and aspen to Widforss Point. Tall trees offer shade, fallen limbs provide pleasant spots to relax, and you likely won't see more than a few people along the trail.
Though the total elevation change is only 134m (440ft), rolling terrain makes the first couple of miles a moderate challenge. This is a particularly pretty hike in late September or early October when the leaves are golden, and the point makes an excellent backcountry campsite.
reviewed
-
A
Santuario de Guadalupe
The adobe church is the oldest extant shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of Mexico. It was constructed between 1776 and 1796, with several additions and renovations since. The oil-on-canvas Spanish baroque retablo (altar painting) inside the chapel was painted in Mexico in 1783 by José de Alzíbar. For the trip to Santa Fe, the painting had to be taken apart and transported up the Camino Real in pieces on mule back. This is just one of the many cultural treasures housed here, including the Santa Fe Archdiocese's collection of santos – wood-carved portraits of saints, for which New Mexican artisans are famous.
reviewed
-
B
UNLV Special Collections
Lots of memorabilia gets cast off in this ahistorical town. Thankfully, some of it ends up here, where it’s closely guarded and housed by the university. The Lied Library holds a pit boss’ ransom of books, photos, maps, posters, manuscripts and much more from the city’s early, hurly-burly days. The best way to pay a visit, though, is from the comfort of your own hotel room: online exhibits are free. While you’re online, also visit the virtual museum of the UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research for a photographic survey of neon on the Strip, a World Series of Poker retrospective, Rat Pack memorabilia and more.
reviewed
-
North Rim
On the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, more than 8000ft above sea level, solitude reigns supreme. Rugged and remote, it boasts meadows thick with wildflowers and dense clusters of willowy aspen and spruce trees. The air is often crisp, the skies vast and blue. If crowds make you cringe, this is where to head for wild isolation. There is only one road in, after all. It’s colder and wetter here, too, and the North Rim is only open for business from mid-May to mid-October. However, the views are spectacular and the lack of huge crowds makes visiting the North Rim a more peaceful, if more spartan, experience of the canyon’s majesty.
reviewed
-
El Tovar
With its unusual spires and dark-wood beams rising behind the Rim Trail, elegant El Tovar remains a grande dame of national park lodges. Spacious rooms (many with sleigh beds and rim overlooks), a dining room with panoramic views, and wide, inviting porches with rocking chairs offer visitors a comfortable and elegant place to relax after a long journey to the park. You don't have to be a guest here to enjoy its old-world ambience.
El Tovar was built in 1905 for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and designed by architect Charles Whittlesey as a blend between a Swiss chalet and the more rustic style that would come to define national park lodges in the 1920s.
reviewed
-
Oak Creek Canyon
For something truly magical take Hwy 89A northeast into Oak Creek Canyon. It's a drive that won't be forgotten. The canyon is at its narrowest here, and the red, orange and white cliffs at their most dramatic. Giant cottonwoods crowd the creek sides, providing a scenic shady backdrop for trout fishing and swimming.
Stop at the Grasshopper Point swimming hole about two miles into the drive, to cool off. Continue on until you reach Slide Rock State Park - a great spot for a picnic lunch.
Head back into town around sunset and turn off at Airport Road. The setting sun makes for a trippy picture - the rocks blaze psychedelic red and orange against a bright pink and purple sky.
reviewed
-
Havasu Canyon
One of the Grand Canyon's true treasures, this is a hidden valley with four stunning, spring-fed waterfalls and inviting azure swimming holes in the heart of the Havasupai Reservation. Because the falls lie 16km (10mi) below the rim, most trips are combined with a stay at either Havasu Lodge in Supai (the only village within the Grand Canyon) or at the nearby campground. For a spot at Havasu Campground you need to book six months to a year ahead.
Parts of the canyon floor, as well as the rock underneath the waterfalls and pools, are made up of limestone deposited by flowing water. These limestone deposits are known as travertine, which gives the famous blue-green water…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
C
Venetian
In a city filled with spectacles, the Venetian is surely one of the most spectacular. This facsimile of a doge's palace, inspired by the splendor of Italy's most romantic city, features roaming mimes and minstrels in period costume, hand-painted ceiling frescoes and full-scale reproductions of the Italian port's famous landmarks. Flowing canals, vibrant piazzas and stone walkways attempt to capture the spirit of La Serenissima Repubblica, reputedly the home of the world's first casino. Take a gondola ride outdoors or stroll through the atmospheric Grand Canal Shoppes.
reviewed
-
Picacho Peak State Park
Distinctive Picacho Peak (3374ft) sticks out from the flatlands like a desert Matterhorn, about 40 miles northwest of Tucson. The westernmost battle of the American Civil War was fought in this area, with Arizonan Confederate troops killing two or three Union soldiers before retreating to Tucson and dispersing, knowing full well that they would soon be greatly outnumbered. The battle is reenacted every March with much pomp, circumstance and period costumes.
The pretty state park has a visitor center that acts as a jump-off point for trails onto the mountain. If you're fit, you can walk to the peak of the mountain via a rugged trail that includes cables and catwalks. …
reviewed
-
D
Main Street Station
This surprisingly elegant neo- Victorian casino hotel is adorned throughout with notable objets d'histoire under its pressed tin ceilings and elegant ceiling fans. Pick up a free Guide to Artifacts, Antiques & Artworks pamphlet from the hotel registration desk, then look for the art-nouveau chandelier from a Parisian opera house and a graffiti-covered chunk of the Berlin Wall.
reviewed
-
E
Historic Line Camp Gallery & Huichol Indian Museum
About 15 miles north of Santa Fe, the one-of-a-kind Historic Line Camp Gallery & Huichol Indian Museum is a gift shop and museum that claims the largest collection of Huichol Indian art in North America: Nearika, unbroken strands of colorful yarn coiled into tales of life and death, and chaquira, sculptures of animals covered in tiny, obsessively patterned beads, are said to depict the understandably wild dreams of the 'People of Peyote.'
Westerners didn't encounter the tribe, which lives in a remote region of the Sierra Madre, until the 1930s. The small museum has a video as well as artifacts, including clothing, musical instruments, old photos and art, but the most…
reviewed
-
Clark County Wetlands Park
When you’re standing inside a smoky casino dominated by the ding-ding-ding of slot machines, it’s difficult to fathom that a beautiful desert environment cradles the modern edifices of the Strip. It’s worth a visit to this work-in-progress county park just to breathe deeply of the fresh air and to focus your eyes on the Frenchman Mountains arching over this desert basin. The focus of the small wetlands preserve is a sandy and marshy wash environment, rich in seasonal bird life, where gravel trails lead to wildlife-viewing blinds. Drop by the volunteer-staffed information center for interpretive displays about native ecology and the county’s environmental restoration work.…
reviewed
-
Marble View
Our favorite of the many Kaibab Forest overlooks, this viewpoint makes a spectacular picnic or camping spot. From the meadow, covered with Indian paintbrush and hiding Coconino sandstone fossils, views extend over the eastern edge of the canyon to the paper-flat expanse beyond.
This is not a quintessential Grand Canyon overlook that you see in postcards and books. Instead, you're looking down where the Colorado River first cuts into the rocks from Lees Ferry, at the point where it only hints at the rapids and canyon beyond.
Marble View is off Hwy 67, 13km (8mi) south of Kaibab Lodge. From Hwy 67, the road seems to end at an overlook; be sure to take the narrow road through…
reviewed
-
Fort Verde State Historic Park
Camp Verde was founded in 1865 as a farming settlement only to be co-opted soon after by the US Army who built a fort here to prevent Indian raids on Anglo settlers. Tonto Apache chief Chalipun surrendered here in April 1873. Today, the town’s Fort Verde State Historic Park offers an authentic snapshot of frontier life in the late 19th century. Exploring the well-preserved fort, you’ll see the officer’s and doctor’s quarters, sprint down the parade grounds and study displays about military life and the Indian Wars. Staff occasionally dress up in period costume and conduct living history tours. To get here, take exit 287 off I-17, go south on Hwy 260, turn left at Finnie…
reviewed
-
Biosphere 2
Built to be completely sealed off from Biosphere 1 (that would be Earth), Biosphere 2 is a 3-acre campus of glass domes and pyramids containing five ecosystems: tropical ocean, mangrove wetlands, tropical rainforest, savannah and coastal fog desert. In 1991, eight biospherians were sealed inside for a two-year tour of duty from which they emerged thinner but in pretty fair shape. Although this experiment was ostensibly a prototype for self-sustaining space colonies, the privately funded endeavor was engulfed in controversy. Heavy criticism came after the dome leaked gases and was opened to allow a biospherian to emerge for medical treatment. After several changes in…
reviewed
-
Kitt Peak National Observatory
From Tucson, Hwy 86 heads west into some of the driest and emptiest parts of the Sonoran Desert. West of Sells, the Kitt Peak National Optical Observatory features the largest collection of optical telescopes in the world. Guided tours (adult/child $4/2.50; at 10am, 11:30am and 1:30pm) last about an hour. Book two to four weeks in advance for the worthwhile nightly observing program (adult/child $46/41; no programs from July 1 to September 15 because of monsoon season) - clear, dry skies equal an awe-inspiring glimpse of the cosmos. Dress warmly, gas up the car in Tucson (the nearest gas station is 30 miles from the observatory) and note that children under eight are not…
reviewed
-
Grand Canyon Caverns & Inn
Nine miles past Peach Springs, a plaster dinosaur welcomes you to the Grand Canyon Caverns & Inn, a cool subterranean retreat from the summer heat. An elevator drops 210ft underground to artificially lit limestone caverns and the skeletal remains of a prehistoric ground sloth. If you’ve seen other caverns, these might be underwhelming, but kids still seem to get a kick out of a visit. The complex also includes a campground (tent/RV sites $15/30) amid junipers and a basic motel (r $85). The restaurant (mains $5 to $15; open 7am to 7pm) is a nice little roadside spot with a small playground and serves burgers and fried food. Note that, despite the name, Grand Canyon…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Built around AD 1350, Casa Grande (Big House) is the country's largest Hohokam structures still standing, with 11 rooms spread across four floors and mud walls several feet thick. Preserved as a national monument it's in reasonably good shape, partly because of the metal awning that's been canopying it since 1932. Although you can't walk inside the crumbling structure, you can peer into its rooms. A few strategically placed windows and doors suggest that the structure may have served as an astronomical observatory. The ball court is one of more than 200 that have been found in major Hohokam villages throughout the region. Experts aren't 100% sure of the purpose of these…
reviewed
-
South Rim
About 90% of Grand Canyon national-park visitors head for the South Rim. Just north of Tusayan, Arizona is the park’s south entrance station. A short drive further ahead next to ever-crowded Mather Point is Canyon View Information Plaza to help you get oriented. After stretching your legs, continue north to Grand Canyon Village. Duck inside the 100-year-old Hopi House, one of the park’s many Native American–inspired designs by famed Western architect Mary Colter, and the equally historic El Tovar Hotel and cliffside Kolb Studio. At the northeastern end of the village, panoramic views of the canyon unfold at Yavapai Observation Station, which has an intriguing…
reviewed
-
F
University of Utah
The university contains two interesting museums and an arboretum. The fine Utah Museum of Natural History features gems and stones, dinosaur bones, a butterfly collection and more. The new, architecturally-intriguing Utah Museum of Fine Arts has a broad permanent collection and hosts changing exhibits in the Great Hall.
For a dose of fresh air, the Arboretum spreads beyond campus to the Red Butte Garden which is full of walking trails, water features, plant collections and outdoor sculpture.
Self-guided trail brochures are available from the Museum of Natural History. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the campus was the Olympic Village, while the Rice-Eccles Stadium held…
reviewed
-
Deer Creek
If you're lucky enough to have joined a Grand Canyon rafting tour, Deer Creek Falls tumbles into the Colorado River downstream of Granite Narrows below Mile 136. From this welcoming trailhead you head 150m (500ft) up a steep, bushy slope to a stunning overlook. From here the trail leads into Deer Creek Narrows, an impressive slot canyon whose walls bear remarkable pictographs.
The narrows end in an inviting cascade. Above, lush vegetation lines the trail as it meanders along the cottonwood-shaded creek. The trail crosses the creek and ascends open, rocky slopes to Deer Creek Spring, the trail's second waterfall. From here retrace your steps back to the river. Despite…
reviewed
-
Starvation State Park
No one is quite sure who did the stealing, but either trappers in the area stashed some winter stores in the mountains, or Native Americans did, and then the other group took the food. Advance planners starved when they found no tasty treats buried under the snow, or so the story goes. In all likelihood bears were to blame for the theft and the name of Starvation State Park. Subsequent homesteaders tried to make a go of it here on the Strawberry River, but with a short growing season and frozen ground they had no better luck fending off hunger. Today the park contains a 3500-acre reservoir as well as plenty of picnickers. The 60-site campground (campsites $16; open June…
reviewed