Arizona: Trails, Rock Landscapes and History

Arizona brings together long-distance routes, hiking trails to historic sites, and striking landscapes. When planning your trip, it helps to choose a focus: should the route itself take center stage, the history of a place, or a landscape where you can hike and linger? The destinations differ both in theme and in the stated route lengths.

Hiking Trails and Long-Distance Routes

The Rim Trail at the Grand Canyon is approximately 13 miles long. Between Mather Point and Powell Point, the Grand Canyon Rim Trail is partially paved. The stated length and description of this section provide two specific points of reference for anyone interested in the trail.

The scale of the long-distance routes is considerably greater: the Arizona Trail is 800 miles long and runs along Arizona’s shared borders with Mexico and Utah. Hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders use the trail. The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail stretches over 1,200 miles from Nogales, Arizona, to the San Francisco Bay Area. The stated route of the de Anza Trail is therefore 400 miles longer than the Arizona Trail; its endpoints also make its extent easier to grasp.

A 0.5-mile hiking trail leads to a viewpoint overlooking Tavasci Marsh. A loop trail is listed as 1 mile long. In Petrified Forest National Park, the Painted Desert is a place for hiking and quiet contemplation—a landscape where the distance covered is not the only thing that matters.

Rock Landscapes and Geological History

Chiricahua National Monument is an 11,985-acre “Wonderland of Rocks.” Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is an international biosphere reserve. Both descriptions draw attention to protected areas whose landscapes are the focus, without suggesting that they are interchangeable destinations.

In northern Arizona, Wupatki National Monument lies between the Painted Desert and the Ponderosa highlands. The Painted Desert in Petrified Forest National Park is a destination in its own right for hiking and quiet contemplation. Around Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, a volcanic eruption about 900 years ago changed the landscape. These three examples offer different points of interest: a location between two landscape regions, an opportunity to hike and linger, and an area shaped by an eruption.

Archaeological Sites and Historic Routes

Today, the Great House at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument serves as the monument’s central public visitor area. In late fall and winter, Casa Grande Ruins offers guided tours to the public, subject to staff availability. If you plan to take a tour, check availability before your trip.

At Pipe Spring National Monument, visitors can explore the lives of pioneers and the Kaibab Paiute through the museum, historic fort and cabins. The monument also includes a garden, an orchard and the Ridge Trail. These sites and facilities offer different ways to explore, from exhibits and historic buildings to garden areas and trails.

Other sites have their own distinctive features: Tonto National Monument includes two Salado-style cliff dwellings. At Walnut Canyon National Monument, trails lead to preserved pueblos. At Tumacácori National Historic Site, visitors can walk along old paths. Comparing these destinations lets you distinguish between an archaeological type of building, trails leading to preserved pueblos, and historic paths.

Route 66 and Food Culture

Route 66 passes through numerous Indigenous communities and railroad towns in Arizona. Its route description thus connects two distinct settlement contexts that shape its course.

Food culture is also part of the region’s history: it dates back 4,000 years and brings together Mexican, Indigenous and European traditions. This long tradition offers another way to experience Arizona, alongside its hiking trails, rock landscapes and historic sites. When planning your trip, you can decide whether to focus primarily on the routes, historic sites, landscapes or regional food culture.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Santa Cruz, Apache County, La Paz County, Pinal County, Graham County, Greenlee County, Maricopa, Pima, Yuma, Navajo, Yavapai, Coconino, Mohave, Boone, Cochise County, Gila County.

For the parent travel overview: USA.