Arizona · Outdoors
The Arizona Outdoors
State parks, waterfalls and lakes, with the guides to plan them.
Where should you go outdoors in Arizona?
Start with Grand Canyon National Park, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon, then use the guides on this page to choose by what you want to do. Trails, hours and fees change, so check each park's official page before you go.
Making a drive of it? See Arizona road trips, or browse places by region.
Parks and sights worth the trip
- Grand Canyon National Park: 1,904 square miles of national park around 278 river miles of the Colorado River.
- Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park: A Navajo Nation tribal park of 91,696 acres spanning Utah and Arizona, run by Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation.
- Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon: Slot canyons on Navajo Nation land, in the Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park, where tour guides are mandatory.
- Havasu Falls: Blue-green waterfalls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, visited with a permit from the Havasupai Tribe.
- Saguaro National Park: Protects the nation's largest cacti, to the east and west of Tucson.
- Petrified Forest National Park: One of the world's largest and most vivid collections of petrified wood, plus a stretch of historic Route 66.
- Canyon de Chelly National Monument: A canyon where Diné families still live and farm, managed by the park and the Navajo Nation together. Canyon tours run with a Navajo guide.
- Kartchner Caverns State Park: Two explorers found this cave in 1974 and kept it a secret until 1978.
- Tonto Natural Bridge State Park: Believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world, 183 feet high over a 400-foot tunnel. Flooding can close trails here, so check the park's official page before you go.
- Slide Rock State Park: A 43-acre historic apple farm in Oak Creek Canyon with the park's namesake slide in the creek. Flooding can close the park, so check its official page before you go.
- Montezuma Castle National Monument: A 20-room cliff dwelling built in an alcove about 90 feet up a limestone cliff.
- Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument: The only place in the US where you can see large stands of organ pipe cacti.