If you’re a fan of hot weather, excellent scenery,
the desert, and golf, then you’d be in heaven in the state of
Arizona. However, you don’t have to be a golfer to enjoy
yourself in this great area of the U.S. The state is located in
the southwestern region of the country with Phoenix being the
capital and largest city. Some other popular centers are Tucson,
Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale, Yuma, Flagstaff, and
Tempe. Arizona has been a member of the Union since 1912 and was
the 48th state admitted. It’s now the 15th most populated with
just over 6.5 million people and is the sixth largest in size.
It also borders Mexico to the south.
While Arizona’s famous for the desert climate and
the Grand Canyon, and was a well-known region back in the era of
the Wild West and cowboys, it’s quite a hopping place these
days, especially in the larger cities. Along with the Mojave
Desert, there are also quite a few mountain ranges and pine
forests to give it a diverse and interesting landscape.
Arizona summers are known to be quite hot and
dry and its winters are pretty mild, so it’s an ideal place to
visit any time of the year. And when you do visit, the major
attraction of course is the Grand Canyon, which is a steep-sided
gorge that’s carved out by the Colorado River and is known as
one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Most of the
canyon is in the Grand Canyon National Park, which is one of the
oldest national parks in America. The canyon is about 275 miles
long and just over a mile deep.
If the canyon doesn’t fascinate you then maybe
the meteorite craters will as there are several of them. The
most popular is the Barringer Crater, which is basically a huge
hole in the middle of nowhere just west of the city of Winslow.
The crater is about a mile wide and 570 feet deep.
Getting around Arizona is no problem at all as
there are plenty of highways that connect the major cities and
smaller towns. When you get to these places, you’ll find decent
bus services in them as well as a light rail system in Phoenix,
which connects the city to Tempe and Mesa. Of course you can
always rent a car. If you’d rather fly, there’s an international
airport in Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma, as well as several
regional airports for domestic flights.
There are dozens of golf courses in Arizona and
they attract thousands of visitors throughout the year as well
as the PGA at the Phoenix open. The locals also have quite a few
professional sports teams to cheer on as the Arizona Cardinals
play in the NFL, the Arizona Diamondbacks belong to Major League
Baseball (MLB), the Phoenix Suns basketball team plays in the
NBA and the Phoenix Coyotes take to the ice in the National
Hockey League (NHL). There are also several minor league pro
teams as well as numerous university and college sporting
events. Thousands of people also flock to the state in the
springtime when several MLB teams hold their spring training
there.
While it’s easy to see why people like to spend
time outdoors in Arizona, there are also some interesting places
to get you inside. These include the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art
Museum and several galleries that feature Native American art.
The live music scene is also very popular as it
features country and western, punk, rock, and heavy metal, with
some excellent bands coming out of Arizona, such as the Gin
Blossoms, the Refreshments, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, The
Meat Puppets, and Jimmy Eat World. Famous singers include
Michelle Branch and Alice Cooper.
There are plenty of hotels and motels to choose from in the
state and they are available in all price ranges, the same as
the restaurants.
A trip to Arizona will allow you to see an
excellent variety of landscapes that combine to form some
fabulous scenery and the cities are fun-filled, vibrant, and
exciting.
About Arizona