17 Best Sights in Arizona, USA

A Tombstone institution, known as the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast, the Bird Cage Theater is a former music hall where Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, and Lillian Russell, among others, performed. It was also the site of the longest continuous poker game recorded: the game started when the Bird Cage opened in 1881 and lasted eight years, five months, and three days. Some of the better-known players included Diamond Jim Brady, Adolphus Busch (of brewery fame), and William Randolph Hearst's father. The cards were dealt round the clock; players had to give a 20-minute notice when they were planning to vacate their seats, because there was always a waiting list of at least 10 people ready to shell out $1,000 (the equivalent of about $30,000 today) to get in. In all, some $10 million changed hands.

When the mines closed in 1889, the Bird Cage was abandoned, but the building has remained in the hands of the same family, who threw nothing out. You can walk on the stage visited by some of the top traveling performers of the time, see the faro table once touched by the legendary gambler Doc Holliday, and the 24-karat gold-trimmed hearse that carried Tombstone's deceased to Boot Hill. The basement, which served as an upscale bordello and gambling hall, still has all the original furnishings and fixtures intact, and you can see the personal belongings left behind by the ladies of the night when the mines closed and they, and their clients, headed for California. Nightly 90-minute ghost tours ($35) are also popular.

The largest butterfly pavilion in the United States gives kids (and their parents) a close-up view of thousands of butterflies in a temperature-controlled rain forest environment. You should also make time to check out the honeybee exhibit and the 3-D theater.

Near the north entrance, this small spot has tables and restrooms.

At this store, both a shop and museum dedicated to Mother Road memorabilia, you can pose for pictures with vintage cars, kitschy signs, ancient gas pumps, and highway memorabilia while sipping a bottle of sarsaparilla.

Here you can stop for the night, learn about the people and their communities, and eat authentic Hopi cuisine. The small but informative museum provides insights about tribal culture. A gift shop sells works by local Hopi artisans at reasonable prices, and a modest picnic area on the west side of the building is a pleasant spot for lunch with a view of the San Francisco Peaks.

Formerly Hualapai Ranch, this shuttle stop now celebrates the culture of the Hualapai people. Artisans demonstrate their skills Sunday through Tuesday at Walapai Trading Post, and the Hualapai Bird Singers share their songs on the weekends. Gwe Ma'jo, the restaurant here, serves traditional dishes like pinion stew and fry bread. Hualapai Point is also where you'll find zip lines and the Cabins at Grand Canyon West.

In the Junior Ranger Discovery program, young visitors can pick up an activity pack any time of the year at either visitor center and complete it within an hour or two. During June, there also are daylong camps for kids ages 5 through 12 in the East district.

Imagine thousands of square feet full of LEGO bricks, and not having to clean up any of them. No, it's not a dream---it's LEGOLAND. Kids can see giant LEGO creations as well as play, build, and watch. Buy a dual ticket with the adjoining Sea Life Arizona Aquarium and save on admission.

This is the most isolated picnic area in Saguaro West. It's on King Canyon Trail, a good area for birding and wildflower viewing. It's about a mile walk to reach the site, and the undeveloped trail isn't wheelchair accessible.

Talk about truth in advertising: this picnic area gives you an eyeful of Mica Mountain, the park's highest peak. None of the tables are in the shade.

Daily programs at both park districts introduce visitors to the desert. You might find presentations on bats, birds, or desert blooms, and naturalist-led hikes (including moonlight hikes). Check online or call for the current week's activities.

There are restrooms and tables at this small picnic area near the south entrance.

The assortment of talks by national park rangers are a great way to hear about wildlife, geology, and archaeology.

Exhibits on Apache history and culture are displayed at the San Carlos Apache Cultural Center, along with explanations of cultural traditions, such as the Changing Women Ceremony, a girls' puberty rite. Crafts are sold here as well.

Because of the nearby petroglyphs, this is the park's most popular picnic site. Its many picnic tables, sprinkled around paloverde and mesquite trees, can accommodate large groups.

The giant mirrors used in the world's most advanced telescopes take about five years to create, and on this guided 90-minute tour you can view them in the different stages of the production process: glass melting, casting, grinding, and polishing. Reservations for the tours, offered weekdays for ages 10 and older, must be made in advance; closed-toe, flat shoes are a must.

In eastern Arizona, at the Wigwam Motel—where the basic rooms are inside 30-foot-tall wood-and-concrete tepees—you'll see a vast collection of classic cars, from a '59 Chevy Impala to a '51 Studebaker Land Cruiser in the parking lot.