Scottsdale Travel

More than 300 days of sunshine each year make Phoenix the perfect year-round destination. Whether you want to relax at a world-class resort, stroll through museums and galleries, experience lush golf courses or explore the wonders of the Sonoran Desert, here is where you’ll discover the desert you never knew.

Northern Arizona’s claim to fame is the majestic Grand Canyon, where indescribably beautiful pastel layers of rock have evolved from river to immense canyon over the past 2 billion years. Northern Arizona also boasts other sites of natural beauty for travelers: the San Francisco Peaks are ancient volcanoes that offer adventurous visitors superb skiing, snowboarding, and hiking trails. And if it’s a city you’re after, check out Flagstaff, a charming western town located in this region.

Situated between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, the Sedona country of Central Arizona offers travelers stunning beauty in classic western style. The landscape is filled with red rock, pine forests, mountains, and valleys, and clear blue skies and dry warm weather predominate.  Vacationers can spend their time visiting the many historic sites, old mining towns, and Indian ruins found in this region.

Most tourists travel to the Grand Canyon's South Rim where it has more amenities and comforts for your vacation. The adventurer can either hike the South Rim Trail or take a mule to the bottom of the canyon on an overnight trip, riding along the edge of the canyon to keep you on your toes.

For the tourist who wants less crowds, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is the area to visit. Point Imperial is the highest point on the North Rim and overlooks the Painted Desert where the canyon transforms and opens up giving it its name. Red and black rocks add contrast and color. Cape Royal provides a panoramic view for your getaway so you can look up, down, and across the canyon.

To avoid crowds flocking to the Grand Canyon, tourist will appreciate Havasu Canyon, at the western end of the Grand Canyon where Havasu Creek meets the Colorado River in Arizona. The Havasupai Indians have preserved the nature of this region by building no roads. Visitors must enter by foot, mule, or horse, taking one of two eight-mile trails to get into the canyon. Once in, your private getaway will feature the 196-foot Mooney Falls and luxury, if you want it, at the new lodge at Supai.

Arizona is a wondrous place, both geographically and culturally diverse, rich with tradition yet young as a state. Few travel destinations offer so great a change of scenery in so little time. Within a two to four hour drive any direction, visitors find themselves in completely different surroundings. Certain times of the year one could actually ski twice in one day – on both snow and water. Arizona boasts vast open spaces and scenic beauty from the high lush desert area south of Tucson to the magnificent Grand Canyon area. Ranges of mountains rise from the desert floor throughout the Sonoran desert region. Traveling northward, pine covered mountain slopes lead upward to snow capped peaks in Flagstaff and in the White Mountain area which extends along the eastern state line. In areas like Sedona and Monument Valley, reddish rock formations composed of layers of volcanic rock, sandstone, limestone and shale, give the landscape striking colors and unique formations. Rock hounds find the state rich with gems and minerals created by millions of years of geological activity.

From cactus and desert to mountains and lakes, Eastern Arizona is a sparsely populated region perfect for nature lovers. Travelers can partake in outdoor activities such as horseback riding, fishing, hiking, rock climbing, skiing, and more. Much of this region is Apache Reservation land, kept pristine by a people who know how to live in sync with the land around them.