By Kristy McCaffrey
Is visiting Arizona on your bucket list? Or maybe you’ve
been here a few times, but yearn to return. Here’s a list of can’t miss sites
in my home state.
Sedona
It’s known for positive energy zones called vortexes, but
there’s also stunning red rock formations and fine art galleries.
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| Sedona |
Saguaro National Park
Located in southern Arizona, near Tucson, it features the
majestic saguaro cactus, which can grow as tall as 45 feet and live as long as
200 years.
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| Saguaro National Park |
Grand Canyon
The most famous canyon in the world has many access points,
catering to the hiker, the river runner, the photographer, or the armchair
tourist.
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| Grand Canyon |
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Long a home to the Navajo, the most distinctive feature in
the park is Spider Rock, a sandstone spire that rises 750 feet from the canyon
floor.
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| Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly |
Petrified Forest National Park
Located near Holbrook and off Route 66, it’s home to large
deposits of petrified wood over 225 million years old.
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| Petrified Forest National Park |
Lowell Observatory
Taking residence in Flagstaff—named the world’s first
International Dark Sky City in 2001 for discouraging artificial night lighting—this
observatory served as home base for astronomer Percival Lowell, who discovered
Pluto in 1930.
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| Lowell Observatory circa 1897 |
Meteor Crater
A 4,000-foot-wide crater that was formed by a space rock
hitting the earth 50,000 years ago.
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| Meteor Crater |
Hoover Dam
Located on the Arizona-Nevada border, the dam is 726 feet
high and creates the largest reservoir in the United States.
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| Hoover Dam |
Taliesin West
A Phoenix winter home for famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, today
it’s the main campus for the School of Architecture at Taliesin as well as
housing the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
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| Taliesin West |
Heard Museum
Located in Phoenix, it houses an outstanding collection of
American Indian artwork, including over 1,700 Kachina dolls, many of which were
donated by the late senator Barry Goldwater and the Fred Harvey Company.
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| Heard Museum |
*****
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Arizona is one of my favorite states to visit. I will be going to Tucson next month for the Women Writing the West convention. I have two sites out Yuma-way I want to visit, and hope the last week in October is not too warm of a month to go there....
ReplyDeleteZina,
ReplyDeleteIt should be really nice then. Have fun!
Arizona is a treasure! There's so much to see there and I love the mix of cultures and history. I've been to most of the places on your list, but I see I have more traveling to do! We did tour Taliesin West years ago, and coincidentally we were at Taliesin in Wisconsin today--though we didn't stop. We circled around it.
ReplyDeletePatti,
ReplyDeleteFrank Lloyd Wright was everywhere lol. When we lived in PA, we often visited Fallingwater. I'm not sure how it was in Wisconsin, but his buildings all have such low ceilings because he was very short. It made me feel claustrophobic. It sounds like your AZ bucket list is off to a good start!