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From easy interpretive trails to backcountry waterfall hikes, Arizona's outdoor scene goes far beyond the South Rim. We focus on trails and parks you can actually do in a day or weekend, with honest difficulty notes and seasonal warnings.
Tempe Town Lake and Saguaro Lake get all the attention. Lake Pleasant is bigger, cleaner, less crowded, and 45 minutes from downtown Phoenix. Here's how to actually use it.
Roosevelt Lake is 90 minutes from Phoenix, holds more water than Saguaro and Canyon and Apache combined, and almost nobody from Phoenix has ever boated on it. It deserves a whole lot better.
Devil's Bridge is Sedona's iconic natural arch and one of the most photographed hikes in the state. Three different trails get you there — here's how to pick the right one.
If you only have time for one Sedona hike, make it this one. The 3.6-mile Bell Rock & Courthouse Butte loop is mostly flat, jaw-dropping at every turn, and works for almost everyone.
For about three weeks in March, Picacho Peak turns into an orange ocean. The rest of the year it's a serious — and seriously underrated — climb with steel cables and a 360-degree summit view.
Camelback gets the headlines, but Piestewa Peak is what Phoenix locals actually hike — steep, fast, in-and-out, with one of the best city views in the Southwest. Here's how to do it right.
Cathedral Rock is the most-photographed formation in Sedona and the shortest 'real' summit hike in town. It's also where most visitors underestimate the scramble. Here's what to know.
Six to eight hours at the South Rim is more than enough for a great first visit — if you plan the right two viewpoints, one short rim walk, and skip the tourist-bus loop. Here's the route I use whenever friends fly in for a single day.
Petrified Forest is Arizona's most overlooked national park. It's drive-through-able in 3 hours, walkable in 6, and the strangest geology in the state.
Lake Powell is most famous for week-long houseboat trips, but you can absolutely get a great day there without booking a boat or selling a kidney. Here's the realistic first-timer's plan.
Camelback is the most-hiked mountain in Phoenix and the most-rescued. Here's what the trail signs don't tell you, and how to actually have a good day on it.
Floating the Salt River is a Phoenix summer institution. Here's how to do it right the first time — including the parts nobody on Instagram explains.
Havasu Falls is the most photographed waterfall in Arizona for a reason. It's also a 10-mile hike with a permit lottery that fills in minutes. Here's what the trip actually involves.
