4 Best Sights in Wickenburg, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe

One of the best collections of Western art in the nation includes paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington, Albert Bierstadt, and others. The museum has an extensive historic photography collection, and is leading an oral history project to capture the stories of the area's longtime residents.

Self-guided trails wind through lush cottonwood-willow forests, mesquite trees, and around a 4-acre, spring-fed pond and marsh habitat. Waterfowl, herons, and Arizona's rarest raptors shelter here.

Prisoners were chained to this now 200-year-old mesquite tree on the northeast corner of Wickenburg Way and Tegner Street. The desert heat sometimes finished them off before their sentences were served.

Once the largest producing gold mine in Arizona, the Vulture Mine has found a new life in the 21st century as a tourist attraction and, sometimes, as a wedding venue. A self-guided tour through this "ghost town" wanders past mining memorabilia; old buildings including bunkhouses, the jail, and a blacksmith shop; the mine shaft itself; and the famous hanging tree, where more than a dozen ore thieves (high graders) were hanged.

Vulture Mine offers no protective safeguards for its aged buildings, shafts, and equipment. Wander at your own risk and keep an eye on children.

Head west from Wickenburg on U.S. 60 for about 6 miles, then turn left onto Vulture Mine Road and travel 12 miles to the mine at the end of the pavement.