Arizona [Canada]

Wellness | Wilderness escapes | family fun | a moveable feast

Arizona

Whatever sounds good to you right now—a bucket-list wilderness escape, a family-friendly adventure, an eating tour of some of the best food in North America or a restorative retreat—Arizona offers every option under the (considerable) sun. The Grand Canyon and ghost towns. Hot springs and Spring Training. Horseback riding and river rafting. The list goes on…and on. Of course, even if all you want to do is warm your bones poolside with a margarita in one hand and a good book in the other, by all means, file that under self-care and keep reading.

One could argue—and plenty of wellness connoisseurs do—that the Arizona desert itself has healing energies. But even if you’re not a believer in the esoteric, consider that the state’s warm, dry air has historically been seen as so salubrious that East Coast high society used to travel here for extended R&R getaways. Case in point: Castle Hot Springs, a palm-shrouded thermal oasis in the Bradshaw Mountains outside Phoenix, where the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Astors liked to take the waters. Today, the same mineral-rich natural pools that lured them—and, of course, indigenous communities well before them—remain at the heart of the site that’s won every imaginable award since debuting a huge refresh in 2019. Even when you’re not soaking in the water (or being swirled gently through it by a Watsu practitioner), it figures into everything from your spa treatments to your meals: There’s an onsite farm, and the interplay between the water’s minerality and the produce is amazing.

If you’re looking for Phoenix-area retreats a bit closer to town, excellent choices range from the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, whose iconic Pinnacle Peak lends its name to one of the best facials you’ll have, to Gurneys’ Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, where Asian healing traditions meet the Sonoran Desert. Also worth visiting is The Phoenician, whose rooftop spa pool is the most satisfying place from which to survey the surrounding slopes after you’ve conquered a trail or two (or even the resort’s golf course or pickleball courts).

But back to Arizona’s inherent healing vibes—more specifically, the vortexes around Sedona from which energy is said to swirl. Even the biggest skeptics can’t help but feel something in this red rock enclave, whether the earth’s energy, the local spa therapists’ expertise—or some combination of the two. Among the best places to see for yourself is Mii Amo, a legendary destination spa that has just revealed a hotly anticipated, two-year refresh. Committed to next-level wellness, the spa offers such services as Chakra Balancing, Intuitive Massage and Soul Consciousness sessions. During your stay, or “journey” in Mii Amo parlance, you can also sign up for flute meditations, canyon bathing, tea journeys, labyrinth sessions and—this being Sedona—guided hikes and mountain biking sessions.

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Also, for the first time since locking down three years ago, the otherworldly Havasu Falls, Havasupai Lodge and campground have reopened—and though availability is rare and highly prized, registering and checking for lodge cancellations or camping reservations here is worthwhile. Another Northern Arizona spectacle worth trying for—in this case, via the entry permit lottery—is the fabled Wave (aka Coyote Buttes). That said, while Arizona may be the Grand Canyon state, it’s also home to a whole range of showstopping chasms, from the wavy red walls of Antelope Canyon, where you’ll want to book a Navajo-led tour for the local wisdom and perspective to the saguaro-spiked peaks that surround Tucson’s Sabino Canyon. Not that you need gorge on gorges alone: Arizona dazzles nature lovers with everything from the sky islands of the Chiricahua Mountains to the outsized, iconic formations of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park to the red rocks of Sedona and the Petrified Forest.

“I have come here to see the Grand Canyon of Arizona,” said President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, “because in that canyon Arizona has a natural wonder…absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world.” 120 years later, his words ring truer than ever as the preciousness of wild, wide-open spaces has become achingly clear. And though Teddy had to the good sense to “not attempt to describe it,” because no words “could convey to any outsider what that canyon is,” we’ll at least cover the basics: 446 kilometres long, 16 kilometres wide, 1600 metres deep, with some of the oldest exposed rock on earth and evidence of thousands of years of civilization. The menu of exploration options is almost as vast and varied as the canyon itself—rafting, trekking, flyovers—but one of the most beloved classics is the near 10-kilometre stretch of the South Rim's South Kaibab Trail that leads to Skeleton Point, where, by the National Park Service’s estimation, you’ll get “panoramic views unparalleled on any other trail at Grand Canyon.”

Meanwhile, if you've got history buffs in the family—or you want to create some—hit a few of the state’s marquee mining towns. At a minimum, visit Tombstone—home to the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp’s house and a roster of Doc Holliday impersonators. Another good choice is Bisbee, where the kids will love the Queen Mine Tour, the Jeep tour of the town’s mountainous backroads—and maybe even some haunted tours to meet some 19th-century locals. For legends of a different kind, check out all the Major League Baseball stars around Southern Arizona for Cactus League Spring Training through March 28, and the sport's global stars who'll be on hand for the World Baseball Classic March 11-15. Of course, there will also be plenty of Diamondbacks home games once the regular season starts, and you can catch the Suns' basketball games through April.

A few more spots that will turn your kids into museum lovers? In the Phoenix area, contenders include The Musical Instrument Museum where you can try your hand at everything from a Javanese gamelan to a West African djembe and the Arizona Museum of Natural History (dinos galore). In Northern Arizona, the Barringer Space Museum comes with a tourable NASA space capsule, but more to the point, sits alongside the famed Meteor Crater. But there's another stop in Northern Arizona that space fans shouldn't miss: Flagstaff's Lowell Observatory, known as the "Home of Pluto" because the planet was discovered here.

Considering that Arizona is often described as a playground (for adventurers, road-trippers and outdoorsy types, in particular), the state’s family-friendliness should come as no surprise. Prepare to shatter your previous parenting point high score in a state where even the museums blow kids’ minds. At the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum outside Tucson, for example, any visit is an adventure that takes you from a dramatic outcropping where bighorn sheep stand sentinel to enclosures where hummingbirds buzz endlessly overhead. In between, you’ll find every desert dweller from mountain lion to prairie dog to giant lizard to river otter (yes, the Sonoran desert has water habitats, too). And if you go at night, BYO blue light or buy one at the gift shop so the littles can spot scorpions among the museum’s rock walls, a unique brand of fun no one will soon forget.

And even the state’s smaller enclaves boast an impressive menu. In Flagstaff, for example, the perfect day might open with house-made scones and a latte from Macy’s European Coffeehouse; continue with Arizona-sourced beef at Diablo Burger and finish with elevated dinner fare at Shift FLG, Brix or Atria.

Not to be outdone, Phoenix is home to a renowned dining scene all its own—starting with what may be the best pizza in the US (per the Bon Appétit, The New York Times and others): Pizzeria Bianco. Indeed, Greater Phoenix is home to three of The New York Times’ 50 favorite restaurants of the moment: Bacanora (Sonoran Mexican specialties); Kabob Grill N’ Go (Armenian and Mediterranean) and Thaily’s (Cambodian-Arab fusion). There are also acclaimed takes on Native American food, from the James Beard Award-winning Fry Bread House to the state's only AAA Five Diamond and Forbes 5-Star restaurant: the vista-blessed Kai at Wild Horse Pass.

Of the 20,000 or so options across the US, none other than Tucson, AZ was designated the nation’s first City of Gastronomy by UNESCO in 2015. The deciding factors ranged from the local agricultural heritage (4,000 years’ worth of amazing abundance) to the globally-renowned Mexican food scene: “the best 23 miles of Mexican food,” as Tucson contends and would go to the mat to defend. In fact, you could spend your entire trip eating Mexican food here and still barely scratch the surface, but a short list of must-tries includes: El Charro Café (consider the roof-dried carne seca or a bowl of caldo de queso); Seis Kitchen (don’t miss the horchata); El Güero Canelo (the James Beard Award-winning Sonoran hot dog is iconic); Tito & Pep (go for the queso fundido) and any of the following for tacos: Tacos Apson, BOCA by Chef Maria Mazon, Tanias 33 and el Taco Rustico. Additional foodie pilgrimage sites in town include: Barrio Breads, where owner Don Guerra has become a James Beard-anointed national celebrity; Monsoon Chocolates, where local sourcing leads to such delicacies as the Whiskey Del Bac Barrel Aged Dark Chocolate; Maynards, where the innovative menu plays perfectly off the historic train station vibes; and Mission Garden, where you can tour and taste your way through the crops that have made Tucson such an interesting place to eat for millennia.

Wellness

Wilderness escapes

Family fun

A moveable feast

Plan your trip

Havasu Falls

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Coyote Buttes (the Wave)

Petrified Forest

Wellness | Wilderness escapes | family fun | a moveable feast

Case in point: Castle Hot Springs, a palm-shrouded thermal oasis in the Bradshaw Mountains outside Phoenix, where the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Astors liked to take the waters. Today, the same mineral-rich natural pools that lured them—and, of course, indigenous communities well before them—remain at the heart of the site that’s won every imaginable award since debuting a huge refresh in 2019. Even when you’re not soaking in the water (or being swirled gently through it by a Watsu practitioner), it figures into everything from your spa treatments to your meals: There’s an onsite farm, and the interplay between the water’s minerality and the produce is amazing.

“I have come here to see the Grand Canyon of Arizona,” said President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, “because in that canyon Arizona has a natural wonder…absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world.” 120 years later, his words ring truer than ever as the preciousness of wild, wide-open spaces has become achingly clear. And though Teddy had to the good sense to “not attempt to describe it,” because no words “could convey to any outsider what that canyon is,” we’ll at least cover the basics: 277 miles long, 10 miles wide, a mile deep, with some of the oldest exposed rock on earth and evidence of thousands of years of civilization. The menu of exploration options is almost as vast and varied as the canyon itself—rafting, trekking, flyovers—but one of the most beloved classics is the 6-mile stretch of the South Rim's South Kaibab Trail that leads to Skeleton Point, where, by the National Park Service’s estimation, you’ll get “panoramic views unparalleled on any other trail at Grand Canyon.”