First time visitors to Arizona expect to see nothing but flat terrain covered with shifting sand dunes and our trademark Saguaro cactus. But Arizona will surprise you! What appears to many people as a vast and lonely land, is to others a land imbued with a haunting majesty and awe-inspiring vistas. From Humphreys Peak at 12,600 feet, to the Grand Canyon more than a mile deep, Arizona terrain is far more varied than visitors expect.

Sonoran Desert Diversity
It is true that desert takes up a large portion of the southern part of the state. The Sonoran Desert is an arid region covering 120,000 square miles in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, as well as most of Baja California and the western half of the state of Sonora, Mexico. For many people, desert conjures images of shifting sand dunes or barren rocks devoid of vegetation and obvious animal life or habitation. Such areas do exist within the Sonoran Desert, though they are small, but for the most part this is a lush desert that receives 8-12 inches of precipitation each year. It is also one of the most species-rich and biologically-diverse arid lands on Earth.

More than 600 plant species thrive in this terrain, including Saguaro, Organ Pipe, and Prickly Pear cactus, as well as Palo Verde, Iron Wood and Mesquite trees. The state flower is the Saguaro Cactus flower, which blooms at night and lasts only 18 hours.

Endangered species like Sonoran pronghorn deer and the lesser long-nosed bat make their home here. Desert bighorn sheep scamper up the steep rock faces. Badger, kit fox, mule deer and mountain lions thrive in areas rarely or never visited by humans. Hawks, eagles, roadrunners and cactus wrens are common sites. And then there are the rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, boas, tarantulas and horny toads; the creatures most people think of when they think of Arizona.

What makes the Sonoran Desert so unique is the elevation. Starting just above sea level and extending up to almost 5,000 feet, the Sonoran Desert climate, plants and animals change as the elevation changes. Weathered by sun, wind and especially rain, the mountainous terrain of Arizona is scored by canyons and rivers, dry streambeds and arroyos. Gently rolling hills or jagged mountain peaks frequently hides unique micro environments, including vivid green valleys and hidden canyons teeming with life. This diversity surprises so many people who visit Arizona. They do not expect the amazing range of breathtaking mountains, mysterious canyons, brilliant blue lakes and streams that Arizona has to offer.

Mountain Majesty
So what makes Arizona more then just sand dunes and dust? Let’s start with the many mountain ranges. The mountains in Arizona were created in three different ways: through up thrust, through volcanic action and what is known as basin and range formation.

Up thrust
Up thrust means pressures deep in the earth cause huge blocks of stone and earth to rise as other rocks dive below them — a theory known as plate tectonics. About 700 million years ago, massive forces in the earth forced a huge section of land (now called the Colorado Plateau) to thrust skyward. The Colorado Plateau covers 140,000 square miles of southern Colorado and Utah, northern Arizona and New Mexico. Elevations on the plateau ranges from 4,000 to 14,000 feet and many of the mountains and canyons of central and northern Arizona were created when the edges of this step-like plateau eroded under the onslaught of wind and rain.

Volcanic
Just south of the Grand Canyon is Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks, which are made up of three 12,000-foot volcanic peaks. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, just to the east of Flagstaff, contains the results of much volcanic activity – several colorful cinder cones formed by extinct volcanoes, and large expanses of lava and ash. The dominant peak is Sunset Crater; as with the other cones it has distinctive dusky red-brown patches formed by oxidized iron and sulphur. In the southern corner of the state, the Black Hills represent the northern end of the Peloncillo Mountains, a volcanic mountain range with sand and gravel deposits on its flanks. Guthrie Peak at 6,480 feet has a commanding view of the surrounding area.

Basin and Range
Visitors to south central Arizona are often bewildered by the nature of the mountains of the basin and range territory. Most people expect to see a relatively straight range of mountains marching into the distance. However, the mountain ranges of south central Arizona don’t match up and seem totally out of place with their neighbors. That is because the territory has been pushed, pulled, stretched and squeezed by geologic forces. Mountains have formed and fallen, eroded and risen again, slide past and over each other, which causes the strange placement of these mountain ranges, some times at right angles to each other.

Water, Water, Everywhere
With all this geologic activity, Arizona is literally pock-marked with potholes and low spots where summer Monsoon rains and Pacific winter storms deposit rain. Oddly enough, that means that Arizona has more miles of inland coastline than the West Coast and Canada combined. There are more than 150 bodies of water in Arizona – a feature that constantly surprises visitors who expect an arid land.

And water is the central fact of life in Arizona and the desert southwest, and nowhere else on earth is the power of water as evident as the Grand Canyon. A powerful and inspiring landscape, the Grand Canyon can literally overwhelm the senses due to its immense size. The Colorado River eroded this mile-deep canyon that is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide.

Come and Enjoy
So when you visit Arizona, come prepared to visit some of the most diverse terrain in the continental United States. Whether it is the thrill of an unparalleled outdoor adventure amid some of the most awe-inspiring scenery on the planet, or an exotic sun-drenched getaway in America’s winter playground, Arizona is much more than sand dunes and Saguaros!