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5 January 2022
Home to the famous Grand Canyon, Arizona is a fantastic destination if you’re looking for sunshine, natural beauty, and charming cities and towns. Being the sixth largest state in the United States of America, Arizona offers numerous interesting sites and places that both tourists and locals alike can visit.
Here is our list of the top must-see and must-visit destinations in Arizona.
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Grand Canyon, with its endless ridges of colorful cliff walls and deep valleys, is a sight to behold. The canyon glows orange, red, yellow, and everything in between in the late afternoon sun.
There is no doubt that the Grand Canyon is one of the most popular attractions in the country, and certainly in Arizona. It is a place that must be seen in person to be appreciated fully. The Colorado River has carved out this natural wonder over the centuries, which can be seen in the distance far below.
Among Arizona’s most spectacular settings are Sedona’s red rock mountains and buttes. Sedona is about 1.5 hours north of Phoenix, making it a popular day trip, but the town is worth much more than just a few hours of your time.
The drive into Sedona from the south, beginning at the Village of Oak Creek, is breathtaking, and the pullouts along the way allow you to enjoy the scenery.
The Hoover Dam is one of America’s greatest engineering feats. Completed in 1935, this massive structure crosses the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada. It measures 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long.
The largest artificial lake in the United States is Lake Mead, which is held back by the Hoover Dam. 110 miles long, it holds the equivalent of two years’ flow of the Colorado River.
You can drive or walk across the dam for free, but there is a fee for parking. A tour of Hoover Dam or the Powerplant is another option. The visitor center provides information about the dam and tours, as well as basic food options.
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Enjoy a variety of water activities at Lake Havasu, including swimming, fishing, boating, and water skiing. Discover hidden coves that are accessible by kayak and admire the beauty of the eye-catching London Bridge. You may also decide to head ashore to Lake Havasu City for campgrounds, hiking trails, shops, and restaurants.
Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation is one of the most breathtaking sites you’ll ever see. You’ll have to plan ahead and buy a permit from the Havasupai Tribe to access the area. The number of permits is extremely limited, so be sure to plan your adventure ahead.
The sandstone buttes that dominate Monument Valley are some of the most iconic images of the Southwest. Along the border between Arizona and Utah, there are jagged rock formations, stone spires and buttes, and sand dunes.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, located in the heart of the valley, offers a 17-mile self-driving route along a one-way gravel road.
Guided tours of the area are also available. Even if you don’t have time to visit the park, you can still enjoy some of the views from the highway.
Whether you’re traveling on a vacation or planning to move to the Copper State, the top destinations we mentioned above, along with the state’s culture, heritage, cuisine, and people, are what make Arizona one of the most livable and interesting states in the US.
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The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is one of the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America and a symbol of both ecological resilience and conservation success. Once nearly extinct, this small gray wolf has become the focus of one of the most closely monitored wildlife recovery efforts in the United States. advertisement A Species on the Brink By the late 1970s, only seven Mexican gray wolves remained in captivity. Their disappearance from the wild was driven by habitat loss, hunting, and predator control programs. The survival of this subspecies depended entirely on careful intervention and breeding programs.
Tucson is taking a bold new step to support its most vulnerable residents. The city has announced plans to create its first city-sanctioned outdoor sleep area, named Star Village, aimed at providing unhoused Tucsonans with a safe place to sleep at night. advertisement A New Approach to Homelessness For many people living on Tucson’s streets, “home” is constantly shifting. Park clear-outs, law enforcement patrols, severe weather, or conflicts can force unhoused residents to move frequently. City officials hope Star Village will provide not just shelter but stability, a stepping stone toward permanent housing. “This was a really bold step,” said
Living in Arizona means accepting a fundamental truth: as one desert dweller puts it, “everything in the desert hates you.” The Sonoran Desert’s plant life seems designed to leave its mark on anyone who dares to venture too close. But what happens when these prickly cactus encounters become unavoidable, and how do you deal with the aftermath? advertisement The Reality of Arizona’s Cactus Encounters Jumping Cholla Despite its name, jumping cholla doesn’t actually jump. However, its segments are so loosely attached and the barbed spines so effective at grabbing onto anything that brushes against them, it certainly seems like an
When it comes to historical facts, Arizona is known for its Wild West days. However, Arizona holds a treasure trove of fascinating stories. Let’s dive into some of the coolest historical facts about Arizona that you may not know. advertisement 1. Phoenix Was Almost Named “Pumpkinville.” (Sort of) In the mid-1800s, when settlers first arrived in Phoenix, they found fields of pumpkins growing where the Hohokam Native tribes had once established an intricate system of canals. These canals had been built to irrigate crops, and when settlers came across them, they were impressed by the thriving agriculture in the region.
