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Fossil Creek Llama Ranch

Offers two-hour to full-day llama treks as well as wellness courses, spiritual retreats and a goat petting zoo (it makes its own goat cheese). Sleep in a teepee. 928-476-5178; www.fossilcreekllamas.com; r from $85, hikes from $65

Hon-Dah

If yearning for the flashing lights and clank of coins to balance out all the unspoiled nature, this is a good base with all the mod cons for everything the area has to offer. 928-369-0299; www.hon-dah.com; 777 Hwy 260, Pinetop-Lakeside; r $100-200

Ponderosa Campground

This USFS site is 12 miles northeast of Payson on Hwy 260 and has 60 tent and RV sites, as well as drinking water and toilets (but no showers). For other area campgrounds, check with the ranger station. 877-444-6777; www.recreation.gov; near Payson; sites $15; mid-Apr–Oct

X Diamond Ranch

Cabins with plenty of pretty land between them sleep two to eight people. Horseback riding, fly fishing, an archeological site and a small museum make it a one-stop ranch. 928-333-2286; www.xdiamondranch.com; btwn Greer & Springerville; rides incl lunch $85, cabins $110-250

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.paysonrimcountry.com

www.wmonline.com

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

TRIP

11 48 Hours in Greater Phoenix

26 Flagstaff’s Northern Playground

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Return to beginning of chapter

Arizona in Tune

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WHY GO Arizona’s sun-baked sound, exemplified in the Meat Puppets II album, is a little country, a little rock and roll, with riffs of punk and psychedelia. It wafts from underground clubs, resplendent theaters, even outdoors under the pines on this musical journey from Tucson to Flagstaff.

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TIME

4 – 5 days

DISTANCE

450 miles

BEST TIME TO GO

Year-round

START

Tucson, AZ

END

Flagstaff, AZ

ALSO GOOD FOR

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Driving around on a hot day, through the endless strip malls and low, squat houses of Arizona’s cityscapes, you wonder how sweet sounds could ever emerge from this place. But at night, on the way to a show, stop a few blocks away on a quiet street and roll down the window. Hear how the far-off music mingles with the sad song of coyotes and the smell of the desert? Now you understand.

Start the music at downtown Flagstaff’s Hotel Monte Vista. The divey downstairs cocktail lounge hosts scrappy rock bands most nights, and there’s rarely a cover charge (if so, it’s in the $5 range). DJs and karaoke occasionally hijack the airwaves.

The Monte V named many its 50 hotel rooms and suites after celebrities who’ve slept here. Michael Stipe crashed in room 205; Siouxsie Sioux climbed under the covers in 220. The Freddie Mercury Room (403) may not be your personal rhapsody, but the late Queen front man would have loved its bohemian purple-and-black color scheme and the electric guitar with a theatrical mask hanging off it.

The Orpheum Theater stands just a few blocks away. Opened in 1911, it screened silent movies and hosted vaudeville acts in its original incarnation. Hundreds of people lined up under the white neon sign to see the shows. They still do, only now the acts are top regional and national bands at this stately spot that’s been lovingly restored.

The Orpheum’s owners also run Pine Mountain Amphitheatre, an outdoor venue set among hulking evergreens 6 miles south of downtown Flagstaff. Acts from Cracker to BB King play here, where it always feels like a festival. Although, in the middle of a hot Phoenix summer it doesn’t matter who’s on stage – music lovers make the trip for cool relief.

Speaking of Arizona’s capital: Phoenix packs in a huge range of venues, as you’d expect from the country’s fifth-largest city. Intriguing new acts grace the small stage at modified arts in a funky brick building downtown. The bands may span genres – alt-country, experimental, roots – but rest assured they’re all a few beats outside the mainstream. Be sure to say hi to Kimber, the owner: she’s done