The Salado Phenomena, 700 years ago, blended ideas of neighboring Native American cultures to emerge a unique and vibrant society. Tonto National Monument showcases two Salado-style cliff dwellings. Colorful pottery, woven cotton cloth, and other artifacts tell a story of people living and using resources from the northern Sonoran Desert from 1250 to 1450 CE.

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park near Payson, Arizona preserves the largest known natural travertine bridge in the world — a 183-foot high, 400-foot long arch spanning Pine Creek in a hidden canyon of Ponderosa pines, accessible via four short but steep trails that descend to the creek bed, the tunnel beneath the bridge, and swimming holes carved by centuries of mineral-rich water flow.

Topaz Internment Camp near Delta, Utah is the site of one of the largest WWII Japanese American internment camps — where nearly 8,000 American citizens were confined from 1942 to 1945. A small museum in Delta preserves their story.

Tuzigoot National Monument near Clarkdale, Arizona preserves a 110-room Sinagua hilltop pueblo built between 1000 and 1400 CE — one of the best-preserved prehistoric villages in the American Southwest, with sweeping views of the Verde Valley, a museum of 3,000+ artifacts, and a short self-guided loop trail through stone rooms occupied by 250 people for nearly 400 years.

Twin Arrows Trading Post a Route 66 roadside attraction was built in the late 1940's and was abandoned in 1995. It consists of giant yellow wooden twin arrows, an abandoned gift shop and Valentine’s diner, some gas pumps, and big tanks in the back still remain. The building and various structures are deteriorating, this Icon has certainly seen better days. From what I understand the land is owned by the Twin Arrows Navajo Casino, that appears have yet to cleanup the area. Now abandoned buildings and structures have become a canvas for graffiti artists. Lots of interesting and creative graffiti to explore.

Two Guns is one of Arizona's most haunted and storied Route 66 ghost towns — a cursed stretch of Canyon Diablo where a Navajo massacre, a Wild West showman, a mountain lion zoo, a murder, and a devastating fire all converged on the same dusty patch of high desert east of Flagstaff.

Valley of the Gods near Mexican Hat, Utah is the lesser-known cousin of Monument Valley — a 17-mile BLM loop road through isolated sandstone buttes, mesas, and spires carved from 250-million-year-old Cedar Mesa sandstone, with free dispersed camping on the valley floor, no fees, and formations named Seven Sailors, Castle Butte, Rooster Butte, Setting Hen, and more.

Verde Hot Springs is one of Arizona's most storied remote soaking destinations — the ruins of a 1920s resort along the Verde River in the Tonto National Forest, where two natural hot spring pools survive among graffiti-covered walls and concrete foundations, reached by a rough 19-mile dirt road and a river crossing.

Walnut Canyon National Monument just east of Flagstaff preserves 25 remarkably intact Sinagua cliff dwelling rooms tucked into the limestone ledges of a 350-foot deep canyon — occupied from approximately 1100 to 1250 CE, explored on two short trails through a canyon ecosystem of remarkable botanical diversity where desert and mountain plant communities converge in a single narrow gorge.

West Fork Oak Creek Trail in Oak Creek Canyon is consistently ranked among the finest hikes in Arizona — a 6.6-mile round trip through a narrowing red rock canyon alongside the West Fork of Oak Creek, past the ruins of the historic Mayhew Lodge, beneath towering cliffs hundreds of feet tall, with thirteen creek crossings and a canyon that gets more dramatic the further you go.

Willow Springs Lake is the second most visited lake on the Mogollon Rim — a beautiful 158-acre reservoir set in the ponderosa pine forest at 7,500 feet, offering excellent trout and bass fishing, kayaking, and one of the most scenic shoreline views on the rim.

Woods Canyon Lake is the most popular and accessible lake on the Mogollon Rim — a beautiful 158-acre reservoir surrounded by ponderosa pine, stocked weekly with rainbow trout, and equipped with a general store and boat rentals for a full day on the water.