Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona preserves one of the most spectacular volcanic rock landscapes in North America — 27 million years of erosion have carved towering rhyolite pinnacles, balanced rocks, and soaring spires from the Chiricahua Mountains, explored via 17 miles of hiking trails and an 8-mile scenic drive to Massai Point.

Christopher Creek Campground is a classic Mogollon Rim escape tucked along the banks of a spring-fed creek in the Tonto National Forest — ponderosa pines, flowing water, stocked trout, and cool mountain air just 90 minutes from Phoenix at 5,640 feet elevation.

Cliff Dwellers Stone House along Highway 89A in Marble Canyon, Arizona is one of the most unusual roadside stops in the Southwest — a series of stone rooms and outbuildings built directly beneath and between massive balancing boulders in the 1930s by a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer whose car broke down in the desert and decided to stay, now sitting open and free to explore within Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.

Colossal Cave Mountain Park near Vail, Arizona offers cave tours, hiking and biking trails, horseback riding, camping, and picnicking across a 2,400-acre historic park featuring the crystal-filled Colossal Cave and the 120-year-old La Posta Quemada Ranch. Campsites are tucked among saguaro cacti and mesquite trees in Posta Quemada Canyon — 30 primitive sites across El Bosquecito and La Selvilla, both with water and restrooms. First-come first-served, $15/night. No electricity or RV hookups.

Courtland Ghost Town at the foot of the Dragoon Mountains near Tombstone, Arizona is one of the most atmospheric and least visited ghost towns in Cochise County — a copper boomtown that rose from nothing in 1909 to a population of 2,000 in under a decade, then collapsed just as quickly when the mines hit limestone, leaving behind a deteriorating jail, scattered foundations, old sidewalks, mine shafts, and a turquoise mining heritage that stretches back to the Hohokam and Apache long before any American set foot in the Dragoon Mountains.

Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona is a 423-acre Verde River riparian paradise — home to one of fewer than 20 Fremont Cottonwood-Goodding Willow forests remaining worldwide, three stocked fishing lagoons, 20+ miles of trails, kayaking on the Verde River, and camping under the cottonwoods in the heart of the Verde Valley.

Dos Cabezas Pioneer Cemetery is a hillside frontier graveyard in the ghost town of Dos Cabezas near Willcox, Arizona — the final resting place of approximately 180 pioneers, miners, ranchers, and families from the 1870s onward, with many unmarked graves and a plaque honoring those whose names are known but locations are not.

Edge of the World — known officially as East Pocket — is one of the most dramatic free dispersed camping destinations in Arizona, perched at nearly 8,000 feet on the rim of the Mogollon Rim escarpment in the Coconino National Forest with sweeping views of Sedona's Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness, Cottonwood, and Mingus Mountain stretching across the Verde Valley far below.

Fish Creek Canyon Wilderness Study Area on Cedar Mesa in San Juan County, Utah is one of the most remote and rewarding backcountry destinations in the Bears Ears region — deep canyons reaching 700 feet, natural arches, Ancestral Puebloan ruins, and the historic Emigrant Trail route followed by Mormon pioneers in 1879, accessed via the rugged Snow Flat Road (BLM 237) through some of the most spectacular canyon country in the Southwest.

Fort Verde State Historic Park in Camp Verde is the best-preserved example of an American Indian Wars period fort in Arizona — a 12-acre state park preserving the original 1870s administration building and three officers' row houses, all furnished in period style, with museum exhibits covering General Crook's campaigns, the Buffalo Soldiers, US Army Signal Corps, and the scouts and soldiers who served in the Verde Valley from 1865 to 1891.

Fossil Creek is one of only two Wild and Scenic Rivers in Arizona — a spring-fed desert oasis discharging over 30 million gallons of 72°F water daily from the base of the Mogollon Rim, with crystal-clear turquoise pools, travertine waterfalls, lush riparian habitat, and one of the most dramatic creek restoration stories in the American Southwest.

Gleeson Ghost Town is one of southeastern Arizona's most atmospheric abandoned mining communities — featuring the ruins of a hospital, saloon, school foundation, and a restored 1910 concrete jail turned museum, set against the dramatic backdrop of the Dragoon Mountains.