Northern Arizona

Understand

For purposes of this article, North (Arizona) is taken to be everything in the state north of Interstate highway 40 (following the historic Route 66), west of (and including) Winslow and east of Kingman. The region also extends southward along I-17 from Flagstaff toward Phoenix, to include attractions within 20 miles or so of the highway north of Greater Phoenix. This definition is arbitrary, as region definitions for this state vary.

This is a geographically diverse area that contains not only the famous Grand Canyon but also some mountainous country near Flagstaff and lesser canyon/mesa terrain to the east and west. Part of Navajo Nation falls within this region. There are a number of national parks and monuments here, many of them either clustered around Flagstaff or within Navajo Nation. Flagstaff makes a good base of operations from which to explore these attractions, most of which do not feature lodging themselves.

The northernmost part of this region is separated from the rest of it by the Grand Canyon and is known as the "Arizona Strip" - no relation to the "Strip" in Las Vegas, although that city isn't far away as the crow flies. Getting to the Arizona Strip from elsewhere in northern Arizona can be tricky owing to the obvious logistical difficulties imposed by the Canyon, and as a result, it has acquired a cultural identity that in many regards has more to do with southern Utah than with the rest of Arizona. First settled by Mormon pioneers, the area features several areas of interest such as Pipe Spring National Monument, a onetime Mormon outpost, and Colorado City, a polygamist community on the Arizona-Utah border.

Some of these areas, particularly the Mojave Desert of Northwestern Arizona, are sparsely populated and very hot, with gas and water locations being 30 miles or more from each other.

Cities

• Arcosanti — a planned community in Arizona notable for its crafts
• Ash Fork
• Bullhead City
• Camp Verde
• Colorado City — the largest polygamist community in the US may also be the remotest town in the lower 48, both geographically and culturally (though this is rapidly changing)
• Cottonwood — a more populated city close to the Red Rock region of Sedona and the Verde River Valley
• Dolan Springs — Community that has the only gas station on Highway 93 between Kingman and Nevada.
• Flagstaff — the biggest city in the area
• Fredonia — gateway to the Grand Canyon
• Jerome
• Kayenta
• Kingman — gateway to Nevada and California
• Mormon Lake Village
• Page — slot canyons and Lake Powell
• Peach Springs
• Prescott
• Sedona — Red Rock mountains and crystal healing energy vortices
• Seligman
• Tuba City — largest town in the Navajo Nation
• Williams — gateway to the Grand Canyon and Route 66
• Winslow

Other destinations

• Canyon de Chelly National Monument — beautiful and historic canyon landscapes, smaller but at least as beautiful as the more famous Grand Canyon
• Chloride — a "living ghost town" just off the road to Vegas
• Glen Canyon National Recreation Area — Lake Powell
• Grand Canyon – the world's most famous canyon
• Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument – a national monument protecting the western end of the Grand Canyon
• Kaibab Plateau
• Navajo Nation
• Navajo National Monument
• Page Springs — Wine Country, Northern Arizona's answer to the Napa Valley
• Pipe Spring National Monument — a site of historical interest near Fredonia.
• Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument — preserves an 11th-century volcanic cinder cone of scenic and scientific interest.
• Vermilion Cliffs National Monument — beautiful colorful cliffs and rock formations
• [http://www.nps.gov/waca Walnut Canyon National Monument] — an important archaeological site in a scenic setting
• [http://www.nps.gov/wupa Wupatki National Monument] — also has interesting archaeological sites

Get in

By plane

Regional airports with air service:

• Flagstaff, connecting to Phoenix.
• Page, with service from Las Vegas and Phoenix - with Contour Airlines.
• Prescott, connecting with Los Angeles and Denver with United Airlines.

Air service to Bullhead City and the Grand Canyon airport in Tusayan has existed in the past.

By train

Amtrak rolls through the region on the Southwest Chief, Amtrak's main line through the southwestern United States, runs east-west through the region, with a major and well-centralized stop in Flagstaff as well as smaller stations in Winslow, Williams and Kingman (daily departure; Chicago - Kansas City - Albuquerque - Flagstaff - Los Angeles).

By car

Primary access into northern Arizona is by road.

• Interstate 17 (I-17) is a north-south intra-state route, connecting Flagstaff and Phoenix (and can be a complete zoo on the weekends as Phoenicians get out of town).
• Interstate 40 (I-40) is an east-west cross-state route, coming from California across the Colorado River, connecting Kingman, Ash Fork, Williams, Flagstaff, Winslow, and Holbrook; continuing into New Mexico, heading to Albuquerque.
• Historic Route 66 follows the route of I-40 along this region's southern edge, with points of interest along the way and reasonably good roads leading north and south. I-17 connects Flagstaff and Phoenix (and can be a complete zoo on the weekends as Phoenicians get out of town).

Access from the north is distinctly limited by the daunting terrain of the Grand Canyon.

• US Highway 89 and 89A (ALT 89) enter from Utah north of the Grand Canyon. US 89 crosses Glen Canyon into Page, and US 89A crosses into Arizona further west just south of Kanab. US 89 contiues south from Page and eventually connects to I-40 near Flagstaff.
• U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north-south route which gets a lot of Phoenix-Vegas traffic; US 93 starts in Wickenburg, runs through Kingman and on towards Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and on wards into Nevada.

Go next

• North – continue north to the Canyon Country region of the state of Utah, if you enjoy the canyon country found here.
• South – Western Arizona, Greater Phoenix or Mogollon Rim regions of Arizona.
• East – Northwest New Mexico.
• West – Southern Nevada with Las Vegas, and or Southern California Desert.