Central Arizona wine country transformed Cottonwood into a visitor magnet, while Jerome’s mining-town-turned-artist-enclave has been on the road-trip radar for decades. And then there’s Sedona, whose red-rock beauty lures travelers from all over the world.
Visitors en route to these colorful communities should add Clarkdale to the itinerary, a little gem located between its better-known neighbors on Highway 89A. Here are three ways to experience Clarkdale.
Explore Copper Country
In the late 1800s, copper mines in Jerome spurred the growth of the Verde Valley. Clarkdale was founded in 1912 as a company town to house miners, smelter workers and their families. Clarkdale’s residential district was separated from the commercial strip by a large city park anchored by a gazebo. The town’s original footprint has been preserved, including a rebuilt gazebo where locals gather for events.
Clarkdale was built for strolling, a trademark of the town that holds true today. Along Main Street, historic storefronts are home to shops, restaurants, boutique hotels and a brewery. Remnants of the past pop up in fun ways: an old caboose converted into a French bakery food truck or a frozen-in-time sign advertising 21-cent gas outside the Clarkdale Classic Station.
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Continue the stroll to the impressive Clarkdale High School, which showcases a shimmering collection of copper art and artifacts at Arizona Copper Art Museum.
Ride the Rails
A single-track railroad carved through rugged canyonlands to connect Clarkdale and Jerome to the Santa Fe Railroad to the north. This vital supply line helped mining camps in the Verde Valley transform into modern cities.
Today, you can ride the vintage cars of the Verde Canyon Railroad on scenic trips that chug 20 miles to the outskirts of Sedona’s red rock country. The tracks cross bridges and trestles along the Verde River’s riparian corridor and cling to hillsides in the canyons. Head to the open-air cars for the best views and to feel the temperature drop when the train rumbles through a 700-foot tunnel blasted into a mountain.
Two hours into the trip, the ride stops so the locomotive can be repositioned to pull the train back to Clarkdale on the same tracks. Allow four hours for a roundtrip journey to a part of Arizona that can be reached only by rail.
Walk Among an Ancestral Pueblo
Along the Verde River in Central Arizona, Indigenous communities thrived for centuries in bustling villages. Just two miles from Clarkdale’s city center, Tuzigoot National Monument is one of the best-preserved ancestral pueblos in the state.
Tour the remnants of the expansive community on several trails, and even step inside one section of the 110-room structure. From this hilltop perspective, you’ll see Jerome notched into a mountain in the distance and a line of old-growth trees that connect Clarkdale to Cottonwood.
Near the entrance to Tuzigoot, Taawaki Inn is a Hopi-owned and -operated hotel in Clarkdale that welcomes guests to not only stay the night but also immerse themselves in authentic Hopi culture.
Jeff Atwell
Longtime Arizona resident and travel writer Jeff Atwell is in his element on road trips to small towns, on hikes through astonishing backcountry and on architecture tours that reveal the state’s heritage.
