Family Adventures Easy Trips to Take with the Kids, 15 from a Scenic Drive in Sedona to a Pioneer Museum in Snowflake
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Perkinsville Road — No Yep. Bisbee’s Ballpark Is The Ferocious Nature Guardrails,THE STATE’SNo Problem BESTEven HORSEOlder Than TRAILS. Fenway ofGIDDYUP! the Cactus Wren w MAY 2009 ESCAPE. EXPLORE. EXPERIENCE family adventures Easy Trips to Take With the Kids, 15 From a Scenic Drive in Sedona to a Pioneer Museum in Snowflake Restaurants ARIZONA BY HELICOPTER: The Ultimate Way +to See the State CANOEING THE COLORADO HIKING THE MOGOLLON RIM contents 05.09 features Grand Canyon National Park 14 FAMILY ADVENTURES Williams Topock Gorge Clark Griswold wasn’t worried about finding the Grand Canyon. Jerome “It’s the biggest hole in the world,” he said in Family Vacation. Mogollon Rim Whether you’re loading up the “Family Truckster” for a trip to the world’s Seventh Natural Wonder, or just looking for a quick, PHOENIX economical family adventure all your own, Arizona has some- Tucson thing for every family. BY KELLY KRAMER Bisbee 20 WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE POINTS OF INTEREST IN THIS ISSUE Arizona isn’t exactly known for its water supply. Canyons and cactuses, yes; water, no. Well, like the Arizona Cardinals, who proved that a football team from the desert really could go to the Super Bowl, we’re using this month’s portfolio to prove that Arizona has some of the most spectacular watering holes in the world. BY GARY LADD 30 A BETTER VIEW The Grand Canyon is spectacular no matter where you’re departments standing — on the South Rim, along the river or on the roof of a Winnebago. Those vantage points, however, pale in compari- 2 EDITOR’S LETTER 3 CONTRIBUTORS 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR son to the views you’ll get from a Robinson R44 Raven II heli- 5 THE JOURNAL copter. It’s the best way to see the Canyon, as well as Sedona, People, places and things from around the state, Monument Valley and every other inch of Arizona. including a look at Bisbee’s historic Warren Ballpark, a Williams B&B that mixes English charm with Guitar BY KERIDWEN CORNELIUS PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADRIEL HEISEY www.arizonahighways.com Hero, and the ferocious tendencies of the state bird. ◗ At sunrise, Merrick Butte and The TALK TO US: In this month’s cover story we spotlight some of the state’s Mittens cast long shadows across the 40 THIS GORGE IS GORGEOUS 44 SCENIC DRIVE best family adventures (see page 14). Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive floor of Monument Valley Navajo In Western Arizona, the Interstate 40 bridge and a railroad Perkinsville Road: Although the last few miles can list, and we know there are other great getaways out there. When you get a Tribal Park in Northern Arizona. chance, tell us about your favorites at [email protected]. photograph by adriel heisey trestle cross the Colorado River side by side. The bridges divide get a little hairy — no guardrails — this scenic drive offers some great history along with the wow. FRONT COVER Just outside of Sedona, two worlds. To the north lies Topock Marsh, an artificially cre- GET MORE ONLINE: the red and orange sandstone columns ated backwater of tranquil lakes and cattails. To the south lies 46 HIKE OF THE MONTH In our “Hike of the Month,” we feature one of the Mogollon Rim’s best. of Camel Head rise majestically within For other great hikes, visit the “Hiking Guide” on our home page. Munds Mountain Wilderness. Topock Gorge, an absolutely beautiful place comprising 20 Rim Lakes Vista Trail: In addition to the largest ponderosa pine photograph by elias butler forest in the world, this route offers great views, wildlife and an Get details on some of this month’s biggest events, including the state’s miles of narrow, twisting river. Either way, the water under the many Cinco de Mayo festivals, in our “Events Calendar.” BACK COVER A canopy of green leaves abundance of ozone. shade the intertwined limbs of a cotton- bridges is something special. BY DAVE ESKES Check out the finalists in our online photography contest. See “Photo Contest.” wood tree in Paria River Canyon. PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTY CORDANO 48 WHERE IS THIS? photograph by gary ladd Photographic Prints Available Prints of some photographs in this issue are available for purchase. To view options, visit www.arizonahighwaysprints.com. For more information, call 866-962-1191. editor’s contrib- That’s the conclusion everyone will come to letter after taking Langer’s Southwest Circle Helicop- utors [email protected] ter Adventure, which makes stops at Sedona, the MAY 2009 VOL. 85, NO. 5 GARY LADD Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Monument Valley 800-543-5432 This month’s portfolio (page 20) www.arizonahighways.com and Flagstaff, while cruising over several famous takes on an impressionistic feel, Publisher spots in between. In her story, Keridwen will WIN HOLDEN thanks in large part to the eye of make you feel like you’re right there. Reinforc- Editor photographer Gary Ladd and his ROBERT STIEVE love of the very places he shot: the ing that sensation is the photography of Adriel Senior Editor Heisey. He’s been flying solo since he was a soph- RANDY SUMMERLIN Colorado Plateau, the Vermilion Managing Editor omore in high school, and today, he’s regarded as SALLY BENFORD Cliffs and the Grand Canyon. “The Editorial Administrator best part of being a photographer is one of the best aerial photographers in the world. NIKKI KIMBEL ’mon kids, we’re goin’ to the dump.” Not Cape Cod. Not Disneyland. The dump. You’ll see what I mean. Of course, not everyone Director of Photography spending time in, learning about and “ When I was a kid back in the ’60s, my family would spend part of the summer is cut out for a bumpy ride in the sky. Some, like PETER ENSENBERGER experiencing some of Earth’s greatest c Photography Editor in Canada, and going to the dump was an annual ritual. We weren’t looking for gar- writer Dave Eskes, prefer the nonthreatening JEFF KIDA landscapes,” Ladd says. “I can’t imag- Art Director bage; we were looking for bears — bears that didn’t have a problem with half-eaten nature of a canoe. BARBARA GLYNN DENNEY ine what could possibly be better.” A TV dinners and stale Cap’n Crunch. I can still remember piling into the F-150, driving That was his ride of choice on a recent trip Deputy Art Director contributor to Arizona Highways since SONDA ANDERSSON PAPPAN down a long dirt road and looking out through the bugs on the windshield. “Where are through Topock Gorge, which is part of the Design Production Assistant 1972, Ladd’s work also appears in the bears?” “Can they break into the truck?” “Why does Jeff get to hold the binoculars?” Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, and is home to DIANA BENZEL-RICE National Geographic Adventure, The Map Designer I remember the ride, but 40 years later, I can’t remember if we ever saw any bears, or 300 species of birds and 47 species of mammals. KEVIN KIBSEY Wall Street Journal and Life magazine, Production Director anything other than each other. With hindsight, I realize it wasn’t about the wildlife. It As he writes in This Gorge Is Gorgeous, Topock is MICHAEL BIANCHI among others. was about the adventure, which, for my family, was usually small-town and laid-back, “20 miles of narrow, twisting river in as natural a Webmaster VICTORIA J. SNOW like a Woody Guthrie song or the news from Lake Wobegon. And Mother Nature was state as can be found anywhere on the Colorado Director of Sales & Marketing almost always the main attraction. Had I grown up in Arizona, instead of Wisconsin, it River.” It’s one of those places that often gets KELLY MERO DAVE ESKES Circulation Director wouldn’t have been any different. As you’ll see in this month’s cover story, most of the overlooked, but it’s definitely worth a look. Like NICOLE BOWMAN When writer Dave Eskes explored Topock Gorge (see This Finance Director state’s best family adventures have some connection to the great outdoors. a trip to the dump in Canada, there’s a good BOB ALLEN Gorge Is Gorgeous, page 40), he found the most stunning In all, we’ll tell you about 15 things to do with the kids, and none of them involve chance you’ll see some wildlife, and if you don’t, Information Technology scenery at Devil’s Elbow. “There, the river is squeezed on CINDY BORM ANIS a character named Chuck E. Cheese. One of the first places we’ll tell you about is so what. It’s an adventure you’ll remember for at both sides by jagged peaks, giving it a lunar appearance,” he Corporate or Trade Sales the Grand Canyon Field Institute, which offers classes in wilderness studies, family least 40 years. Maybe even longer. 602-712-2019 says. “I envisioned it under a full moon, and the English poet Sponsorship Sales Representation hiking, culture and natural history. At the other end of the state, down in the Coro- ERNIE MULHOLLAND William Blake came to mind. It seemed to be something he EMM MEDIA SERVICES LLC nado National Forest, is Onyx Cave. It’s not as sexy as Kartchner Caverns, but as HERE’S WHAT’S ON OUR PLATE 602-971-6260 would describe in a phantasmagorical opium dream.” And Kelly Kramer writes, it’s “a virtual honeycomb of rooms and passageways.” Last summer, state lawmakers authorized an [email protected] although Eskes ended up a little wet — at one point, his canoe flipped — the real chal- Caves, canyons, scenic drives, museums … if you’re looking for a quick and eco- “Arizona Highways” license plate.