Arizona

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Introduction

Looking out on the desert through the window of an old truck

© All Rights Reserved GregW

Arizona, located in the heart of the south-west of the USA as a Western United States, bordered by Mexico to the south, California and Nevada to the west, Utah to the north and New Mexico to the east. The state is best known for being the home to the Grand Canyon, but also provides opportunities to see the history of the western expansion of the USA and get in a good game of golf.

Geography

Often thought of as nothing more than desert, Arizona has a wide range or geographies. Sure, there is desert in the south, but head north and you climb onto the Colorado Plateau, into which one of the natural wonders of the world is carved, the Grand Canyon.

Cities

Holy Cross

© All Rights Reserved Mavr8k

• Flagstaff is one of the primary gateways to the Grand Canyon
• Gilbert
• Jerome Sedona area old mining time
• Page Springs Northern Arizonas Napa Valley Wine Country
• Phoenix is the heart of the Greater Phoenix area and includes Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler and Peoria. Phoenix is the state's capital and largest city, and includes fine dining, many museums and an active nightlife. The Phoenix area is home to the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, the Phoenix Suns NBA team and the Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball team. Arizona State University is located in Tempe.
• Sedona is known as Red Rock Country.
• Tucson
• Williams located 60 miles south of the Grand Canyon, provides a convenient place to stay and is where you can catch the train to the Grand Canyon

Discovery Maps provide free maps to many of the major towns. The maps can be found in major airports and hotels. The maps are not to scale and a bit cartoonish, but they do provide a good view of the town and list major tourist sites.

Sights and Activities

Havasu Canyon Falls

havasupai Falls

© All Rights Reserved joeexplore

The Havasu Canyon is a side canyon of the Grand Canyon and located on the Havasupai Indian Reservation.
The Havasu Falls are the largest series of water falls feeding into the Grand Canyon. The Navajo falls is 21 meters, Havasu Falls is 37 meters, Mooney Falls is 64 meters and Beaver Falls is 10 meters.

Although not well known across the entire world anyone who has seen the Havasu Canyon falls will agree they are some of the most beautiful falls in the world. The stunning turquoise water snakes down the narrow canyon with waterless desert on both sides. To reach the falls there is only two ways. First is to take a raft down the Grand Canyon and climb up from the Colorado river. The other way is to hike into the Havasupai Indian Reservation to the town of Supai, which has no roads to it. After that hike down to the falls and camp in the camp ground. Visiting the falls is very difficult and requires a fair amount of preparation, including a permit arranged a few months in advance. For those too out of shape to hike in and out with all their gear, there are horses and donkeys that can be hired to transport people or belongings. For people looking for off the beaten track beauty this place is hard to beat.

Other Natural Sights

• Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most stunning places on earth and is a must see!
• Oregon Pipe National Park is a great desert paradise located on the Mexican border.
• Antelope Canyon is a beautiful slot canyon located on the Navajo Nation in Page, Arizona.
• Saguaro National Park
• Petrified Forest National Park

Other Sights and Activities

Events and Festivals

Weather

Dark clouds and rain in the distance

© All Rights Reserved GregW

Arizona is made up of three major geographic regions - the high plateau in the north-east, desert valleys in the south-west and a mountainous range running from the south-east to the north-west.

The higher altitude regions can receive up to 30 inches of precipitation a year, including snow in the winter months. Temperatures in the summer are in the hot and dry, potentially in the high 20s C. In the winter, daytime temperatures can drop into the single-digits Celsius, with temperatures well below freezing at night.

The lower desert altitudes receives little rain, and can be very hot during the summer months. In July, the desert can reach temperatures into the 40s C. The hottest temperature recorded in Arizona was 53C at Lake Havasu City on June 29, 1994. Temperatures drop significantly at night, down to the low-teens Celsius. In winter months, desert temperatures during the day can reach 20C, but drop down to single digits at night.

Getting There

By Plane

Many cities have major airports, but the majority of flights into Arizona arrive in Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX). The closest airport to the Grand Canyon with major scheduled service is Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (IATA: FLG, ICAO: KFLG).

By Train

A number of trains stop en route between the central states and California in Arizona. The trains are operated by Amtrak and include:

• The The Southwest Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles, stopping in Flagstaff and Winslow, Arizona, among other places in the state.
• The Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Los Angeles. The train stops in places like Yuma and Tucson, Arizona.
• The Texas Eagle travelling between Chicago and Los Angeles. The train operates daily between Chicago and San Antonio, Texas, but only three times a week continues from San Antonio to Los Angeles, stopping in places like Yuma and Tucson as well.

By Car

Arizona is well connected to the rest of the USA by the Interstate highway system, as well as smaller local roads. Highway 10 runs from Los Angeles, through Phoenix and into New Mexico. Highway 40 generally follows the route of historic Route 66, from California through Flagstaff and into New Mexico and towards Albuquerque, New Mexico. Highway 93 connects the state to Las Vegas, Nevada, and there are local highways running north to Utah and Colorado.

Arizona has a number of border crossings with Mexico, including crossings at Yuma and Nogales.

By Bus

Bus service to Arizona is available from Greyhound. Service runs from numerous spots with the USA to a number of locations in Arizona, including Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma.

By Boat

Arizona is a land-locked state and a desert, so there are few options to arrive into the state by boat.

Getting Around

Grand Canyon Village Train

© All Rights Reserved GregW

By Plane

A number of airlines service intrastate travel.

By Train

Amtrak provides passenger rail service throughout the state, including: the The Southwest Chief stopping in Flagstaff and Winslow, Arizona; the Sunset Limited with stops in Yuma and Tucson; and the Texas Eagle.

Grand Canyon Railway offers service between Williams and Grand Canyon National Park

By Car

The state is well crossed by highway, and driving often provides the best way to see many of the options. Highways are well maintained, but some of the roads in the national parks and other smaller country roads may only be passable by four wheel drive vehicle.

Car rentals are provided by a number of companies, and can be picked up at most major airports. Note that sometimes car rentals have restrictions on where the vehicle can go, so be sure to verify with the rental company if you plan to drive out of state or into Mexico.

By Bus

Bus service to Arizona is available from Greyhound. Service runs from numerous spots with the USA to a number of locations in Arizona, including Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma.

By Boat

Other than river rafting trips, pleasure trips on Lake Havasu or Lake Mead or jet boats through the rapids of the Colorado river, there is little opportunity to travel between locations by boat.

Eat

Drink

Sleep

• The Francisco Grande is a popular hotel and golf resort located in Casa Grande. The Francisco Grande first opened in 1959 and served as a training camp for the San Francisco Giants. Hollywood elite like John Wayne and Pat Boone were frequent visitors of the hotel. The hotel became a popular golf resort in the early ‘80s. Today it is still considered to be the premiere golf course in Arizona. In 2003, the hotel went through an $8.5 million-dollar renovation.