Catherine Hollis

Every Arizonan has that one Mexican restaurant they will defend at family dinners, and most of us would happily burn a tank of gas to prove our point. This list gathers ten of those places, from a Tucson cafe that has been serving since 1922 to a Yuma drive-in that opened in 1962 and a […]

For roughly a hundred miles of Interstate 10 in southern Arizona, a string of billboards asks the same nagging question and never gives an answer. Plenty of Arizonans grew up in the back seat begging to stop, only to hear a parent say it was a gimmick and keep driving. The truth is that the

Most Arizona drivers blast along Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend without a second glance at the saguaro-covered land rolling past the windows. That is a shame, because a massive protected slice of our own backyard sits just beyond the cattle gates and gravel turnoffs. It holds mountain ranges, pioneer trail routes, an

You do not need a passport or a ten-hour flight to stand under a baroque ceiling, gaze up at twin bell towers, or wander a Byzantine courtyard, because Arizona has all of that tucked into its desert towns, mining camps, and mountain streets. Some of these churches are more than two centuries old, while others

Some dogs arrive in Tucson homes as shelter rescues with zero manners and a lot of big feelings about other dogs. A few months later, some of those same pups are holding a perfect stay on restaurant patios and settling quietly in hotel rooms. The place behind many of those turnarounds is not a cafe

Most Arizonans know the Valley for citrus groves, cotton fields, and cactus, so an olive grove in the southeast desert can come as a real surprise. Out in Queen Creek, rows of olive trees stand beside a working mill, and the oil made there ends up on tasting counters a short walk from the press.

Down near the Mexican border, a giant white cross rises off a hillside, and people spot it from the valley floor long before they reach it. It stands 75 feet tall. Next to it is a huge statue of Mary, and between the parking lot and the top there are roughly 600 steps. Some people

Arizona has some serious bargain territory hiding in plain sight, from giant bin warehouses in Phoenix and Tucson to charity shops in Mesa, Flagstaff, and Prescott. This list covers six big, browsable thrift stores where the prices stay low enough that a loaded cart does not have to mean a painful total at the register.

Summer in the Valley sends everyone hunting for water, and there is one wide, blue reservoir north of the city that regulars have loved since they were kids. It has jet skis buzzing across open water, paddle boarders gliding near quiet coves, and wild burros that stroll right up to picnic tables like they own

Most people drive across Arizona chasing red rocks and sunsets, but did you know you can bring home a piece of the desert that you dug up yourself? Scattered across our state are public sites where fire agates, petrified wood, clear quartz, and even flakes of gold are waiting just under the surface. These are

Here is a wild bit of trivia that trips up even the folks who grew up here. The famous bridge that once carried traffic over the River Thames in England does not sit in England anymore. It was taken apart stone by stone, shipped across an ocean, and rebuilt in a warm desert town in

Somewhere in the Arizona desert, thousands of golden blooms turn their faces toward the morning sky, and getting in costs nothing at all. That is not a typo. A working farm out past the Phoenix suburbs quietly opens its sunflower field to anyone willing to make the drive, no admission booth, no ticket line, no

Somewhere in north Phoenix sits a place that quietly holds instruments from roughly 200 countries under a single roof, which is a claim almost no other spot on Earth can make. Longtime Arizona residents sometimes forget it is even here, tucked into the desert as if the whole world decided to store its music in

Somewhere off a busy Phoenix highway sits a warehouse stacked wall to wall with lumber most people never knew existed. Purple heart, rosewood, black limba, and live edge slabs share space with humble scrap bins where a whole cutting board project can start for pocket change. Weekend hobbyists and seasoned cabinet makers alike keep circling

Some places change so much over the years that folks who once knew them well come back and feel like strangers. That is the story unfolding in one famous red-rock town near Flagstaff, where the quiet trails and small shops of years past have given way to packed streets and busy galleries. Longtime guests still

Some of the finest cooking in the Phoenix area does not come from a building with fancy signage or valet parking. It comes from a truck parked on a gravel lot behind a church, open only two days a week, where the line forms early because the food tends to sell out. Longtime residents whisper

Somewhere in the East Valley sits a play mountain so big that kids climb it like tiny mountaineers, then rush right back down a concrete slide that practically launches them at the bottom. Add a giant splash pad, a fishing lake full of catfish, zip lines, and enough sports courts to keep the whole family

Somewhere off Interstate 40, hidden behind a stretch of flat high desert, sits a hole so big it could swallow a small city. About 50,000 years ago, a chunk of space rock slammed into northern Arizona and left behind one of the best-preserved impact sites on the entire planet. Longtime Arizona locals have driven past

Ordering chicken and waffles when you have celiac disease usually means a nervous conversation with the server and a lot of hoping for the best. Good news for Arizona folks: a handful of spots across the state have gone all in on gluten-free cooking, some with entire kitchens dedicated to it. That means you can

Deep inside a red-rock canyon, water the color of turquoise pours over travertine ledges into pools that seem almost painted. Getting there takes a serious hike and a permit that vanishes within minutes each February, yet people from all over the state keep chasing it. The reward is a desert oasis so vivid it barely

There is a stretch of desert north of Tucson where a capybara might climb right into your lap and settle in like it owns the place. Down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere sits a ranch where porcupines, warthogs, emus, and the world’s largest rodents greet guests one small group at a time.

Some roads in Arizona ask you to hold your breath, grip the wheel, and slow way down for reasons that have nothing to do with traffic. Tucked into the eastern edge of the state sits a mountain route so twisting that motorcyclists rank it among the finest anywhere, and hikers keep coming back to finish

Arizona locals looking for something faster than a Saturday spent scrolling their phones have a serious contender hiding in plain sight. Electric karts that scoot along at real racing speeds, an indoor track built for both first-timers and grownups who still chase lap times, and a setup that treats an 11-year-old like an actual competitor

Some places earn a following that spreads by word of mouth, one satisfied guest telling the next until people start planning a whole afternoon around the trip. Up in a small desert town north of Scottsdale sits an Old West saloon-style spot with nearly three thousand rave notes and a dessert case worth the drive.

Tucked into a rocky hillside in a tiny Arizona town sits a place most locals drive right past without knowing it exists. Hand-carved sculptures line a winding path up a boulder-strewn slope, telling a story step by step while the high-country views open up around you. No passport, no plane ticket, and no steep entry

Right in the middle of one of Arizona’s biggest cities, a stretch of quiet canal path hides something most longtime locals have never seen with their own eyes. Every summer evening, just as the light starts to fade, a concrete flood control tunnel releases a stream of tiny winged residents that ripple out over the

Somewhere in Phoenix, there is a building so packed with old treasures that people show up expecting a quick peek and leave three hours later, arms full and wallets barely dented. Aisles stretch on and on, filled with vintage toys, coins, jewelry, records, and cabinets of curiosities that trigger memories you forgot you had. Longtime

When summer turns the desert floor into a furnace, plenty of Arizonans forget that the state also has cool, pine-ringed lakes sitting thousands of feet higher up. At most of these spots you can rent a kayak, canoe, paddleboard, or motorboat right at the water and spend the day drifting instead of sweating. From the

There is a spot in the Verde Valley where families book their birthdays months ahead and out-of-towners get sent by strangers at wine shops in Sedona. It has held a 4.6-star reputation across more than 1,600 votes, which is not easy to pull off in a small Arizona town. Steaks come out cooked exactly as

There is a place in the southwest corner of Arizona where stone-walled cells still stand exactly where they did back when the Old West was still wild. Outlaws, cattle thieves, and one very famous woman all spent their days behind these bars, and the buildings that held them have survived long enough for you to

Tucked into the hills of Cochise County sits a place most Arizonans have driven right past without a second glance. It carries the fingerprints of miners who came from Finland, Serbia, and Montenegro over a century ago, and later folded into a famous copper town nearby. Longtime residents sometimes forget it is even here, which

There is a train in northern Arizona that has been carrying people toward one of the planet’s most famous canyons since the early 1900s, and plenty of locals have never climbed aboard. It rolls out of a small mountain town with a Wild West show, singing cowboys, and a staged holdup that keeps kids and

Some of the best meals in Arizona come with a jukebox, a spinning stool, and a pie case that has probably outlasted three governors. These are the diners that still do things the old way, from homemade root beer to breakfast served before the sun is fully up. A few sit right on Route 66,

Arizona hides a whole town that time nearly forgot, tucked out in the desert where a gold mine once ran as one of the richest in the state. Stone and adobe buildings still stand, filled with the tools, furnishings, and everyday objects the miners left behind. Instead of a single museum room behind glass, an

Somewhere in East Mesa, behind a plain door that most Arizonans have driven past without a second glance, sits a room where quarters mean nothing and 1988 never ended. Pay one set fee, walk in, and every pinball table and vintage cabinet is yours to play as many times as you want, with no coin

Some places in Arizona hold time inside solid stone, and this one has been quietly guarding it for more than 200 million years. Scattered across a painted stretch of high desert are logs that turned from wood into rainbow-colored rock, waiting patiently long before anyone lived nearby. Longtime residents sometimes forget it sits right in