Arizona, New Mexico & the Grand Canyon Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Aaron Anderson [84]
See also TRIPS 18, 23 & 26
ARCOSANTI
When you pull off the freeway to get to this place all you’ll see at first is a ramshackle few houses anchored by a gas station and a sign pointing the way. Follow the signs and a few miles of dirt road – your car will kick up a lot of dust, but the road is smooth and well traveled – and soon enough you’ll be in the parking lot, still wondering what all the fuss is about. Take the steps to the visitors center and sign up for a tour, then you’ll see a city that looks like what someone imagined the future to look like in 1970. After you understand the ideas behind all that faded concrete, you’ll realize the trip was more than worthwhile. The brainchild of ground-breaking architect and urban planner Paolo Soleri, this desert outpost of a new kind of urban planning is based on “acrology;” architecture meets ecology. Radical when conceived in the 1960s, Soleri’s ideas now seem on the cutting edge in this age of urban sprawl and global warming. If and when it is finished, Arcosanti will be a self-sufficient village for 5000 people with futuristic living spaces, large-scale greenhouses and solar energy. Spend some time in the gift shop – it sells the famous bronze bells – or grab a meal in the café. Cordes Junction, the little settlement near Arcosanti, is 65 miles north of Phoenix via I-17. Arcosanti is another 1½ miles from where the paved road ends.
See also TRIPS 18, 24, 26 & 29
SCOTTSDALE/CAVE CREEK
Yep, Scottsdale. Downtown Scottsdale, with all of its bars, restaurants and art, is worth a day, but what we’re talking about is North Scottsdale where the lucky few have desert homes. But for the most part it’s nothing but cactus in every imaginable shape and lots of mesquite trees to make those steaks you’re having later that much tastier. This is where Frank Lloyd Wright saw fit to base his home and architecture school, Taliesin West. The steak houses and woolly bars in this neck of the cacti satisfy: Reata Pass Steakhouse and the next-door Greasewood Flat are good for a lazy, well-irrigated Sunday. Wear a tie to Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse and see what happens. Venture further west into Cave Creek and belly up to the bar at the Horny Toad, a bar-restaurant that locals use as a tasty excuse to see the beautiful landscape. Poke around on Cave Creek Rd; there are plenty of roadside stands selling Western-themed knickknacks and you gotta love the green-neon saguaro-shaped clock. Cave Creek Regional Park has 11 miles of hiking trails that dip up and down into arroyos (desert washes) and are open for mountain biking, hiking and horses. Cave Creek is 34 miles north of Phoenix via Loop 101 and Scottsdale Rd. It’s adjacent to North Scottsdale.
See also TRIPS 6, 11, 14 & 16
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Grand Canyon Region Trips
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48 Hours in Las Vegas
Fantastic Canyon Voyage
Ghosts of the South Rim
South Rim Art
Hualapai & Havasupai Journey
Hiking the North Rim
Lazing on Lake Powell
Polygamy Country
Written in Stone: Utah’s National Parks
Trail of the Ancients
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Living in the Southwest, we know you’ve seen the Grand Canyon. It is the region’s trademark attraction, luring five million visitors a year. But even though you’ve seen this American icon a million times (admit it), you’re secretly impressed by its wedding-cake layers and crazy depth every time you snap a visiting friend’s picture from that famous viewpoint on the South Rim. Should you crave more than just another magical sunset photo, we’ve written 10 trips introducing you to this familiar attraction – and the surrounding region – from a different, more intimate angle. If you like solitude, try our Hiking the North Rim trip; those in search of spirits or art will explore the points of interest