Explore Navajo Interactive Museum, Tuba City Canyon de Chelly Tours, Chinle CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: AOT; CDCT GUEST, PHILIP STRAHL; KARL SHAKUR NDIELI @KARL_SHAKUR AND KELSEY JOHNSON @HEYKELSEYJ; NPS PHOTO Pipe Spring National Monument, Fredonia Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Colorado River. To avoid the crowds that cluster atop the high cliffs, sign up for a small group tour with Horseshoe Bend Slot Canyon Tours , a Navajo-owned business that will take you to a private viewpoint. On the White Mountain Apache Tribal Lands in east-central Arizona, a winding road climbs through lush stands of aspen, pine and spruce to reach picturesque Hawley Lake. This splash of sapphire nestled in a volcanic bowl is the very definition of a high-mountain oasis, with fishing, camping, cabins, a lodge and boat rentals during summer. Secluded and mostly untouched by time and technology, Havasu Falls seems like a tropical island paradise with a series of turquoise waterfalls. The Havasupai (“People of the Blue-Green Waters”) guard this rare habitat near the Grand Canyon by limiting the number of visitors. Permits are hard to come by and the 11-mile hike can be treacherous (especially in the heat), but the payoff is worth it. Shady campsites line the riverbank within this remote canyon, and waterfalls as high as 200 feet spill down red cliffs into travertine pools. In Fredonia, Pipe Spring National Monument protects a rare water source amid sagebrush prairie north of Grand Canyon. Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians gathered seeds, hunted animals and raised crops near the spring for 1,000 years. Today, Pipe Spring National Monument offers a vivid look at American Indian and pioneer life in the Old West. Buildings have been restored, gardens replanted and living history demonstrations are conducted most summer mornings. In southern Arizona, Tohono O’odham Nation Cultural Center & Museum sits on a swath of pristine desert that’s often ablaze with wildflowers in early spring. Learn about Tohono O’odham “himdag,” or lifeway, through exhibits and collections of artifacts that range from metates and stone axe heads to “kuipads,” sticks used to harvest the fruit of the saguaro cactus. Take time to admire the splendid views of Baboquivari Peak, a sacred mountain to the Tohono O’odham. Explore these lands with wide-eyed wonder — and also, appreciation for the generations of Indigenous peoples who steward these special spaces for all to enjoy. Scan the QR Code to read our guide to visiting Havasu Falls the “right way.” 17
Arizona Official State Travel Guide Arizona 2024-25: Page 17
