Nearly five centuries ago, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition crossed into present-day Arizona, following the San Pedro River north in search of seven legendary cities of gold. It came up empty, but the expedition became the stuff of legend. A drive through Coronado National Memorial, on the U.S.-Mexico border, offers plenty of that history, but those simply interested in unspoiled wilderness and stunning panoramas will find treasure there, too.
There’s plenty to see along Arizona’s “West Coast,” where the Colorado River forms our state’s western border. But much of this part of Arizona doesn’t see many visitors, since it’s relatively remote. For those who do make the trek out west, a drive from Lake Havasu City to Parker offers unique history, an engineering wonder and plenty of chances for riverside recreation.
What are you going to remember about 2020? Actually, don’t answer that; this is a family magazine. But despite that year’s challenges, maybe we’ll also remember it as a year when we made the best of it. Which, it turns out, you can do on the Apache Trail, one of Arizona’s most beloved roads. While damage from a 2019 landslide still blocks part of the route, the Arizona Department of Transportation this year repaired the Apache Trail up to Fish Creek Vista, turning an already scenic road into a day trip with a panoramic payoff.
It takes a lot for a scenic drive to become a Scenic Drive. That’s a goofy way of saying we at Arizona Highways try to publish the best of the best. Because of that, there are more than a few misses that get driven but never make it into the magazine. But sometimes, to mix a couple of metaphors, you throw a dart and hit a home run. Cherry Creek Road, which includes a historic mining town and pristine views of the Prescott National Forest, is that dart. Or that home run. Or both.
The San Francisco Peaks, Escudilla Mountain and Big Lake are just a few of the Arizona locations where people flock to see aspens display their autumn hues. If you’re an aspen enthusiast and you’re reading this magazine, you’ve probably been to one of those places, or to all three. You probably haven’t been to Greens Peak, the focus of this easy 20-mile drive in the White Mountains of Eastern Arizona.
“Over the river and through the woods” isn’t a saying you’d expect to apply to the Sonoran Desert, but Greenback Valley Road, which winds into the rugged Sierra Ancha south of Payson, has a way of defying expectations. In 14.2 pleasant miles, this route offers running water, varied plant life and mountain views — all of them a reminder of some of the surprising things you can find in Arizona’s largest desert.
The ponderosa pines that cover a wide swath of Arizona made Flagstaff the vital Northern Arizona city it is today. But the railroad played a role, too: Flagstaff began as an isolated ranching camp, but the arrival of trains in the 1880s helped establish logging as a key economic engine. Forest Road 700, which begins several miles south of the city, features reminders of the area’s railroad history — along with plenty of ponderosas.
Every year, Chiricahua National Monument gets only about 60,000 visitors — roughly as many as you’ll find at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon over a holiday weekend. So, if you take your natural splendor with a side of social distancing, the wonders of the Chiricahua Mountains, in Southeastern Arizona, are tough to beat. And Bonita Canyon Drive, which winds past hoodoos and vistas on its way to the monument’s Massai Point, is an ideal starting point for an exploration of the Wonderland of Rocks.
In the 1950s, more than 150 sites were in the running to be the United States’ first national astronomical observatory, but Kitt Peak, southwest of Tucson on the Tohono O’odham Nation, beat them all. At night, it’s not hard to see why: This peak in the isolated Quinlan Mountains offers a stellar view, literally and figuratively. But during the day, the view from the steep, twisting road to the observatory is just as heavenly to behold.
Some scenic drives require a hefty time commitment and a lot of miles on the odometer. They’re worth it, of course, but sometimes you don’t have much of either to spare. That’s part of what makes the route to Elephant Butte so appealing. If you’ve got a high-clearance vehicle, you can make this trek to an appropriately named rock formation and be back on a major highway in 45 minutes or so — and encounter a thriving desert ecosystem along the way.
