Explore > Arizona > Arizona Trips
trips header

Places Welcoming You

Drive 248.5 miles • 4 hours, 17 minutes

Southern Arizona is a place of riddles. Mystery surrounds the thousand-year-old petroglyphs in Gila Bend and the “big house” built by the enigmatic Hohokam people. Feeling vexed? Take in a golf game or spa treatment in Yuma or Tucson to ease your mind.

2017_az_2_map

 

1. Yuma

Starting Point • Entertainment, History, Outdoor Recreation

It’s no surprise that snowbirds flock to Yuma. Basking in some 4,015 hours of sun per year, Yuma is one of the hottest and sunniest places in the nation, as Guinness Book of Record statisticians attest. With a harmonious natural setting on the Colorado River, outdoor enthusiasts convene for river cruises, tubing, kayaking, wildlife spotting, and fishing. Yuma’s revitalized historic district boasts the acclaimed Yuma Art Center and Galleries, a beautiful space with a vibrant collection of local and national artworks. Next door is the town’s crown jewel, the storied Art Deco Historic Yuma Theatre.

 

RECOMMENDED STOPOVERS

Las Quintas Oasis RV Resort – Yuma, AZ – (928) 305-9005

Villa Alameda RV Resort – Yuma, AZ – (928) 344-8081

 

2017_az_2_sm_01

2. Gila Bend

116.2 miles, 1 hour, 56 minutes • History, Nature

At the haunting Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, the largest concentration of petroglyphs in the Gila Bend region—around 800 symbol etchings and inscriptions—are pecked onto basalt boulders that overlay a granite out-crop rising from the flat desert landscape. An interpretative trail loops through the compelling archaeological site, where the Hohokam people, an ancient Sonoran Desert group, lived and farmed between AD 350 and 1400. Human figures, animals, sun symbols, concentric circles, spirals and mazes are impressive to behold.

 

3. Casa Grande

64.4 miles, 1 hour, 8 minutes • History, Nature

One of the area’s most striking Indian ruins, Casa Grande is no misnomer. Named “big house” by the Spanish explorers who discovered it, this national monument is an enigmatic 650-year-old earth-walled structure built by the Hohokam people, who farmed the valleys of the Gila and Salt rivers some 1,500 years ago. Casa Grande is the tallest Hohokam structure that is known to exist, standing 35 feet tall. While the origin of the structure remains uncertain, archeologists speculate that the building was either a type of astronomical observatory or a center of government, religion, com-merce or education.

 

2017_az_2_sm_02

4. Tucson

67.9 miles, 1 hour, 13 minutes • Food, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, Shopping

On paper, Arizona’s second-largest city has it all. Rimmed by the soaring Santa Catalina Mountains that envelop two units of Saguaro National Park, where colossal cacti reach for azure skies, Tucson enjoys a prime Sonoran Desert setting. Beyond nature’s glories (and perfect weather), Tucson is imbued with the cultural brilliance of a city in the grip of self discovery. There are restaurants for all tastes and budgets, big art museums, innovative galleries and chic boutiques. Just outside town, top-of-the-line golf resorts set new standards in luxury and boast compelling course layouts.

 

RECOMMENDED STOPOVER

Far Horizons Tucson Village RV Resort – Tucson, AZ – (800) 480-3488