Arizona – discover breathtaking national parks

Arizona’s Breathtaking National Parks

The state of Arizona is home to 19 national monuments (more than any other state) and 3 national parks: Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park and Saguaro National Park.

With its immense scale and undeniable beauty, the Grand Canyon is the most striking landmark in Arizona and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It stretches over a length of around 450 kilometres and reaches depths of up to 1,800 metres. The Grand Canyon is divided into three unique sections, each offering special experiences and viewpoints:

The easily accessible South Rim, not far from the towns of Flagstaff, Williams and Tusayan, is the best-known area for exploring the Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon Village is the park’s headquarters and offers excellent facilities for visitors. Whilst summer is undoubtedly the season that attracts the most visitors, spring and autumn guarantee cooler temperatures and fewer crowds.

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The somewhat more remote North Rim, which lies at a much higher altitude and is closed during the winter months due to heavy snowfall, is a beautiful, less crowded alternative in the summer for enjoying the beauty of the canyon in peace. The North Rim is usually open from May to October.

The West Rim, also known as Grand Canyon West, is not part of the national park, but is owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribe. Grand Canyon West is home to the famous Skywalk with its glass floor, which rises 1,200 metres above the canyon floor . For even more thrills, there’s an exciting white-water rafting tour on the Colorado River with a local guide from the Hualapai Tribe.

Hiking along the Rim Trails is a great way to explore this natural wonder, as are a variety of guided tours, such as jeep tours, bike rides, mule rides or – for the more adventurous – white-water rafting trips. The national park also offers the right accommodation for everyone: campsites for tents and caravans, glamping sites and, of course, numerous hotels both inside and outside the park.

Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park in eastern Arizona is a geological treasure trove in the high desert, home to one of the largest collections of petrified wood, animal fossils and petrified tree trunks, dating back 211 to 218 million years.

Another major highlight is the breathtaking view of the Painted Desert in northern Arizona, which stretches through the park. This vast wilderness in northern Arizona extends for around 240 kilometres from the eastern end of the Grand Canyon to Petrified Forest National Park and is known for its colourful hills, flat plateaus and uniquely shaped spire-like formations, which were formed around 200 million years ago.

Summer, the peak season, often brings the monsoon and with it heavy downpours and a breathtaking spectacle in the sky, whilst the wildflowers of spring and the cooler autumn temperatures promise an equally magnificent experience. There are two entrances to the park, and visitors can stop at various points along the 45-kilometre-long Main Park Road to explore the surroundings with their viewpoints and attractions.

As the park’s focus is on nature, it may come as a surprise that there are also architectural treasures to be found. On the south side of the park, at Puerco Pueblo, you can visit the remains of a 100-room complex inhabited by the Pueblo Native Americans more than 600 years ago, as well as nearby petroglyphs. It is one of numerous archaeological sites in the park.

Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park protects the characteristic cacti of the Sonoran Desert across vast areas covering more than 360,000 square kilometres. Divided by the city of Tucson, the park consists of an eastern and a western section, which are home to a vast forest of giant cacti that stretches across the valley floor. As saguaro cacti can reach a height of almost 16 metres and live for over 200 years, they are regarded as the kings of the Sonoran Desert.

In addition to the vast desert – incidentally, the most biodiverse and humid desert in North America – Saguaro National Park is also home to mountainous regions as well as pine and coniferous forests. These varied landscapes provide ideal habitats not only for a magnificent flora, but also for a diverse fauna, including collared peccaries, coyotes, quails, desert tortoises in the lower plains, as well as black bears, red deer and Mexican spotted owls in the higher elevations.

Each district of the park has a visitor centre offering easy garden walks and access to scenic roads and paths that lead to longer, more challenging hikes . With more than 170 miles of hiking trails across the two districts combined, visitors can choose between desert hikes in the west and mountain hikes in the east.

Image: Grand Canyon sunrise_Credit Shutterstock, Image: Grand Canyon National Park South Rim - photo credit Ji Rui, Image: Grand Canyon North Rim (1) credit Dennis Swena, Image: Grand Canyon whitewater rafting 2 - photo credit 'Grand Canyon Whitewater', Image: Colorado River East Rim Grand Canyon_Credit Adobe Stock, Image: Petrified Forest - Jasper Forest - credit National Park Service, Image: Painted Desert Petrified National Park_Route 66_An Pham_ANP3734-Enhanced-NR-Edit, Image: 08_sleep-logs---pefo---npsphoto-jholgerson---12-21-20_51154263639_o, Image: Saguaro National Park, Credit: Arizona Office of Tourism, Image: Saguaro National Park_1_Credit Arizona Office of Tourism, Image: Tucson - Saguaro National Park Signal Hill Petroglyph Area - credit Visit Tucson, Image: Horse ride in Saguaro National Park, Credit Tanque Verde Guest Ranch