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Changing exhibits keep things dynamic and it’s a nice place to see depictions of real cowboy life. 928-684-2272; www.westernmuseum.org; 21 N Frontier St, Wickenburg; adult/under 16/senior $7.50/free/6; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun

Flying E Ranch

Rates include activities and three family-style meals daily; no bar, so BYOB. 928-684-2690; www.flyingeranch.com; 2801 W Wickenburg Way, Wickenburg; r from $310, seasonal; Nov-Apr;

Kay El Bar Guest Ranch

A maximum of 24 guests and access to a huge sprawl of desert; so nice. 928-684-7593; www.kayelbar.com; Wickenburg; r from $375, seasonal; Oct-Apr

Sharlot Hall Museum

More a collection of historic buildings than a traditional museum; see the governor’s restored log-cabin “mansion.” 928-445-3122; www.sharlot.org; 415 W Gurley St, Prescott; adult/child $5/free; 10am-4pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun

EAT & DRINK

Bird Cage Saloon

The owners say that some of the birds in the collection are on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC 928-771-1913; www.birdcagesaloon.com; 148 Whiskey Row, Prescott; 10am-2am

Greasewood Flat

This outdoor drinking place is a cash-only affair and at night the stars really are big and bright. 480-585-9430; www.greasewoodflat.net; 27375 N Alma School Pkwy, Scottsdale; 11am-1am

Pinnacle Peak Patio & Microbrewery

The views of the namesake peak are almost as good as the food. 480-585-1599; www.pppatio.com; 10426 E Jomax Rd, Scottsdale; mains $15-30; 4-10pm Mon-Thurs, 4-11pm Fri & Sat, noon-10pm Sun

Prescott Brewing Company

The food is nearly as good as the microbrews. 928-771-2795; www.prescottbrewingcompany.com; 130 W Gurley, Prescott; mains $8-12; 11am-10pm, bar until late

SLEEP

Carefree Resort & Villas

A gentle introduction to the pleasures of wide open spaces, the place lives up to the “carefree” in its name. 480-488-5300; www.carefree-resort.com; 37220 Mule Train Rd, Carefree; r from $169, villas from $209

Hotel St Michael

With a good restaurant downstairs, a free, albeit early, breakfast is included. Two doors down from the beginning of Whiskey Row. 928-776-1999; www.stmichaelhotel.com; 205 W Gurley, Prescott; r $70-130

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.outwickenburgway.com

LINK YOUR TRIP www.lonelyplanet.com/trip-planner

TRIP

25 Tracing Arizona’s Cultures

28 Fantastic Grand Canyon Voyage

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Return to beginning of chapter

Photographing Monument Valley

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WHY GO The red rocks of Monument Valley and the rounded, wind-carved slots of Antelope Canyon are the trophy shots in any shutterbug’s portfolio. Getting close to the rock is the way to avoid the cliché that many a cowboy has wandered across at Monument Valley, and at Antelope Canyon, timing is everything.

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TIME

2 days

DISTANCE

235 miles

BEST TIME TO GO

Year-round

START

Flagstaff, AZ

END

Kayenta, AZ

ALSO GOOD FOR

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After visiting Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley the memories of these places are intense but then one day much later you discover you can’t recall exactly what they really looked like. The vivid hues, like all things, have faded in memory. Thanks to the magic of photography, though, the colors here can stay alive forever.

With your camera at the ready, head north out of Flagstaff on the US-89. Stop and look back for great shots of the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks looming against the Western sky. Back on the road, the scenery has a limited palette at first – green pine and grey rock – but as the long, straight road loses elevation the desert reclaims the roadside. Unlike the yellow sands presented in many a movie, seen from a speeding car the hues of these dunes undulate from purple to green to black and back again. It’s just a preview of the fleeting Technicolor wonders to come but still the best stretch of pavement in the state for finding the snaps that many photographers zoom right past.

After the gas stations and strip malls of outer Flagstaff disappear you’re soon on wide open Navajo Nation land, where every 15 miles roadside