With magnificent landscapes that span low deserts, mountain highlands and everything in between, Arizona’s natural spectacles are always worth the detour. When summer temps heat up in the low-elevation deserts, the mountain regions swell with hikers, cyclists and road-trippers. When the rest of the nation is bundled up for winter, Arizona visitors wear T-shirts and shorts on desert hiking trails and golf courses.
Grand Canyon visitors often plan a few extra vacation days to explore natural wonders in neighboring Navajo Nation. See creamsicle landscapes at Vermillion Cliffs and towering buttes at Monument Valley, then extend the trip to the Arizona-Utah border to enjoy the scenic lakes that harness the power of the Colorado River.
Down south, the most recognizable symbol of the Desert Southwest — the saguaro cactus — can be seen by the thousands in the Sonoran Desert. At Saguaro National Park, which flanks both sides of the Tucson metro area, hike to the base of these giants for the best photo ops of the trip. Also in Southern Arizona, remote sky-island mountain ranges include the impossibly rocky Chiricahua National Monument.
For visitors who prefer to stay close to civilization, botanical gardens display the bounty of desert plants and animals that thrive in Arizona. At Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, see a staggering collection of desert plants from around the world. At Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, native animals steal the show.
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