Natural Wonders

Apache Junction, Phoenix & Superstition Mountains

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Arizona's oldest and largest botanical garden, a copper baron's desert project near Superior

From $10

Camp Verde, Sedona & Verde Valley

Montezuma Well

A limestone sinkhole holding 15 million gallons, with endemic species and cliff rooms at its rim

Free

Tucson, Tucson & Saguaro

Saguaro National Park: Rincon Mountain District

The older cactus forest east of Tucson, with an 8-mile paved loop and a wilderness behind it

From $15

Sedona, Sedona & Verde Valley

Cathedral Rock

Sedona's most recognizable formation, with a short, steep scramble to the saddle

From $5

Page, Page & Monument Valley

Horseshoe Bend

An overlook 1,000 feet above a 270-degree bend of the Colorado River, a short walk from US 89

Grand Canyon Village, Grand Canyon & Kaibab Plateau

Mather Point

The South Rim overlook a five-minute walk from the visitor center, with views 30 miles east and 60 miles west

From $20

Kayenta, Page & Monument Valley

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Navajo-run park of sandstone buttes on the Arizona–Utah line, with a 17-mile dirt loop drive

From $8

Jacob Lake, Grand Canyon & Kaibab Plateau

Point Imperial

At 8,803 feet, the highest point on the Grand Canyon's rim, looking east to the Painted Desert

From $30

Sierra Vista, Tombstone & Bisbee

San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area

Forty miles of cottonwood-lined river, birds by the hundred and 13,000 years of human history

From $2

Phoenix, Phoenix & Superstition Mountains

South Mountain Park/Preserve

More than 16,000 acres and 100 miles of trail on the city's southern edge; heat rules apply

Prescott, Sedona & Verde Valley

Thumb Butte

Prescott's skyline landmark, circled by a popular hiking-only loop in the national forest

From $5

Payson, Phoenix & Superstition Mountains

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park

What may be the world's largest travertine bridge, 183 feet high, in a green canyon near Payson

From $5