Places From the Backwoods Wants to Go

Hidden on a cattle ranch in Arizona, this bookstore has been celebrating Southwest literature for more than 40 years.

The historic “pink house on the hill” is an architectural gem that now serves as a center for water conservation.

A rare wayfinding portmanteau of “Street” and “Avenue.”

Religious statues built because of one man's bargain with God fill this peaceful sculpture garden.

More than 300 years ago, a revolt at this Hopi pueblo shaped the future of the American Southwest.

A mistaken marker makes an erroneous claim along the historic Old Divide Road.

This isolated outpost was once the only place to cross the Colorado River for hundreds of miles.

The state's only comprehensive museum dedicated to the mineral that defined its history and economy.

The first permanent memorial to a unique secret weapon of World War II.

One of the final grand railway depot hotel complexes is slowly being restored to its former glory.

This memorial pyramid marker honors one of the United States Government's first official camel riders.

Open since 1938, this diner has kept its fountain, malt machine, and all the gum that greasers left beneath its counter.

This abandoned bootleg attraction was built to cash in on the popularity of classic TV show, F Troop.

A $100,000 tumbleweed decorates an Arizona park and ride that got its priorities a bit tangled.

After a short-lived attempt to bring America in line with the rest of the world, this road was left in metric.

Opinions differ as to whether this Arizona tree was actually used as a Wild West jail, but that hasn't stopped the town from capitalizing on it.

Stairs often replace streets on the steep slopes of this old mining town.

A museum and tribute to a brave profession.

The unusual burial monument of Arizona's first governor.

Sleep where gangsters fell amidst smoke and flame, with nary a bullethole to show for the legendary struggle.

Rumor had it that these concrete crosses scattered across the Arizona scrubland helped align spy satellites. (They didn’t.)

These free-roaming horses were once destined to disappear from the land.

Every Christmas, one Arizona city makes the most of its dry climate by creating an arid desert tannenbaum.

This 40-room dwelling tucked within a cliff was built by the basin's prehistoric residents.