The painted desert of Arizona stretches from the Four Corners area, to the Grand Canyon, to the Petrified Forest National Park. The desert gets its name from the layers of sandstone, mudstone, siltstone and shale, in all colors from buffs to rust, pinks the reds, browns to blacks. Wind and weather have turned this area [...]

Spring is the very best time of year for trout fishing in Arizona so get your new rod and reel ready. The waters are warming just enough to bring a spring frenzy of spawning and feeding. The Arizona Game and Fish Department divides the state into seven zones: White Mountains, North Central Region, Mogollon Rim, [...]

Silhouetted by the setting sun, the Giant Saguaro Cactus is the universal symbol of the American Southwest. It flourishes only in the Sonoran Desert areas of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico and only below 4,000 feet or where there is little risk of frost. Nowhere are these majestic cacti as beautiful as in Saguaro National [...]

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, just north of Payson, Arizona, is a spectacular, if little known, natural formation that literally takes your breath away. Tucked into a narrow canyon, the travertine stone arch is the largest in the world, standing 183 feet high with a 400-foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest [...]

In the mild climate of Southern Arizona, Colossal Cave Mountain Park is a great place to visit during the winter months. The cave formed 10-15 million years ago, when hot water containing sulfuric acid welled up from below and ate away the rock of the cave passages. Eventually, the water was cut off and the [...]

Take a trip on Saguaro Lake in the Desert Belle and enjoy the exotic wildlife, towering canyon walls and dramatic Sonoran Desert vistas. The Desert Belle is a unique way to enjoy all the beauty that Arizona has to offer including 2,500 species of plants and animals. Saguaro Lake is located within the Tonto National [...]

A mile down, deep in the Grand Canyon, Phantom Ranch is tucked along the banks of Bright Angel Creek. It is the only lodging facility below the Canyon rim. The only way to reach the Ranch is by mule, by foot and by rafting the Colorado River and it is a popular stopping and oasis [...]

Take a trip back through time aboard the Yuma Valley Railway. Traveling alongside the beautiful Colorado River, you will not only enjoy lovely views of the river and be able to watch the Sonoran Desert flow by, but also be able to view local wildlife in the West Wetlands Park, the only Nation Heritage Area [...]

Chiricahua National Monument, located in southern Arizona, is one of several “sky island” mountain ranges surrounded by expansive desert grasslands. Chiricahau was sculpted by ice, water and wind over millions of years. By far the most noticeable natural features in the monument are the rock pinnacles. Rising hundreds of feet into the air, many of [...]

Tucked in a canyon on the Colorado Plateau, deep within soaring sandstone walls, is one of the most sacred sites to the Navajo Indians. They call it tseyi “place within the rocks.” The name was corrupted by Spanish explorers to Chelly, and eventually to Canyon de Chelly. Just east of the town of Chinle, Arizona, [...]