13 Experiences You Can Only Have in Arizona
1. Riding a mule into the Grand Canyon
Mules have transported visitors from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon down the rugged Bright Angel Trail for over a century. “There’s been no fatalities on mule-back and we’d like to keep it that way,” the tough-talking guide announces as you saddle up for the journey. You’ll be coached on how to keep your animal companion at just the right distance from other riders in the group as you bump along steep slopes, skinny rock passageways, and the suspension bridge over the Colorado River.
It’s a 5.5-hour trip to
2. Walking in Tucson’s All Souls Procession
Honoring the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, Tucson’s
During the burning, the performers of
3. Feeling the energy of Sedona’s vortexes
Surrounded by red sandstone buttes, crumbling spires, and towering mesas, the desert city of Sedona is known for its stunning scenery. But to the New Age set, Sedona’s beauty lies in what can’t be seen: its vortexes, heightened fields of cosmic energy said to radiate the power of the earth like a tornado or water swirling down a drain. This phenomenon is believed to facilitate prayer, meditation, and the healing of body and soul; many Phoenicians make the two-hour drive north to the red rocks to “clean out” the residue generated by city living.
If all that’s a bit too far out for you, come to one of Sedona’s four vortex locations at sunrise or sunset anyway. Maybe you won’t feel the subtle vibrations the guy next to you is whooping for joy over, but you’re in for an incredible light show as the sun turns the desert peaks orange and blood red.
4. Holding a séance at Tombstone’s Bird Cage Theatre
Even after the fire of 1882 and the silver mining bust, the
While the museum-like parlor is packed with poker paraphernalia and strange relics like the mythic merman, the hidden boudoirs hold the Victorian-era wooden beds of those private and pricey affairs. Most tours finish with the ghost-hunting crowd begging the tour guide for an “authentic” séance on the theater stage, but scarier still is imagining the real courtesans pulling off a turn-of-the-century can-can routine while bullets buzzed under their petticoats.
5. Gazing deep into the universe at Kitt Peak National Observatory
Situated at the apex of the 7,000-foot Quinlan Mountains on the
6. Visiting the resurrected ghost town of Jerome
Perched 5,000 feet up Cleopatra Hill in the Black Hills of Yavapai County, the old copper mining town of Jerome boomed right up until 1953, when the last of the copper deposits ran dry and the population plummeted from 15,000 to under 100 faster than you can say, “Ghost Town!” But Jerome didn’t stay quiet for long.
The ‘60s brought hippies who snapped up the town’s crumbling buildings at rock-bottom prices, and today’s population of 455 is a mix of craftspeople, chefs, writers, and artisans who’ve made a name for Jerome as a thriving artists’ colony known for its galleries, coffeehouses, and restaurants. Still, you can see vestiges of the mining period as you wander the town’s streets from the
7. Stepping into the 18th-century Mission San Xavier Del Bac
When Spanish colonists moved northward from Mexico into Arizona, claiming land for New Spain, Roman Catholic priests did their part by founding a series of missions along the Sonoran Desert mountain ranges. Perhaps the most beautiful of these colonial churches is
Today it’s a pilgrimage site visited by thousands each year, and inside the gift shop you’ll find silver charms in the shape of various body parts — eyes, arms, heads, hearts. “Milagros,” says the shopkeeper, “they’re miracles. People buy a charm to represent the body part that ails them, and leave them at the base of the Virgin’s statue for healing.” The best view of the mission is from the adjacent hilltop, where a replica of Our Lady of Lourdes is enshrined in the rocks.
8. Touring Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West
Recognized as the “the greatest American architect of all time” by the American Institute of Architects, Frank Lloyd Wright chose to build his winter home and studio in the Sonoran Desert. Constructed between 1938 and 1940 in the foothills of Scottsdale’s McDowell Mountains, Taliesin West showcases Wright’s philosophy of “organic architecture” — local stone was used for the foundations, and glass walls integrate indoor and outdoor spaces. It now functions as the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and School of Architecture, and various
9. Discovering “The Thing” on a throwback road trip
At I-10 roadside attraction
The collection is testament to a lost history when sideshows — rather than American Horror Story — fed our macabre curiosities. At the end of the footsteps you’ll approach the true Mystery of the Desert, what appears to be a Madonna tableau in a coffin — a mummified mother and child. Is it real? What is its purpose? Find out for yourself.
10. Eating the hottest food in the Southwest at Los Dos Molinos
Located in an hacienda that was once home to silent-era-western actor Tom Mix, the original
11. Sleeping in the haunted Hotel Monte Vista on Route 66
The classic neon sign has been beckoning weary travelers off Route 66 for the better part of a century. Opened in 1927, this historic haunt sits in downtown Flagstaff’s Heritage Square, and was once where Mary Costigan — the second woman in the world to be issued a radio license — hosted her daily broadcasts.
Bootlegging was rife here during Prohibition, and when Hollywood began filming movies in Northern Arizona during the ’40s and ‘50s, the Monte Vista was the hotel of choice for stars like Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, John Wayne, Clark Gable, and Humphrey Bogart. But the patrons who refuse to leave aren’t Hollywood’s elite. Reports of the Phantom Bellboy announcing “room service” and a woman sitting in a rocking chair in Room 305 are well documented.
12. Visiting an up-and-coming U.S. wine region
Arizona has arrived on the wine scene with vineyards producing high-quality, intensely flavored grapes that thrive in the state’s arid, sunny climate. The
Off the wine trail, the annual
13. Seeing the original Mel’s Diner sign
Driving along NW Grand Avenue in Phoenix, you’ll spot the giant coffee cup spilling out an arrow that points to
Arizonans love their mammoth road signs that draw travelers to abandoned buildings, like the giant one above Mr. Lucky’s nightclub that closed in 2004, or the My Florist Café sign that towers above the defunct restaurant. But the Mel’s Diner sign invites tourists in to “Kiss My Grits” — and eat some, too!
