Arizona's 5 best national parks: An insider's guide to plan your dream trip

By Roger Naylor

To truly understand Arizona, you need to understand our national parks. These crown jewels are the keys designed to unlock the incredible scenery, rich history and endless diversity of the state. That’s exactly why I wrote my latest book, "Arizona National Parks and Monuments." 

They range from the volcanic sprawl of stone hoodoos crowning Chiricahua National Monument to the colorful gorges and shimmering water of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to the peaceful adobe church at Tumaca?cori National Historical Park to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.  

They may be the nation’s parks but they’re in our backyard. Arizonans get to experience them over and over again in every possible way. 

To encourage a little exploration in 2025, here are five of Arizona's our most spectacular national parks. But before you set out, heed this warning. Once you start venturing to these parks, the majestic and the modest, the accessible and the remote, it becomes extremely hard to stop. I know what I’m talking about.

How many national parks are in Arizona?

Arizona has 34 national parks, monuments, historic sites and national recreation areas spread across the state.

What is the most beautiful park in Arizona?

It would be hard to argue with Grand Canyon National Park being considered the most beautiful park in Arizona, and even the nation. But beauty comes in many forms, from subtle to dramatic, and all of Arizona's national parks reward visitors with gorgeous scenic vistas and historic buildings.

Read on for five of the most beautiful parks in Arizona.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area 

Giant sparkling lakes wrapped in mountains and spread across a gaunt and bony landscape serve as one of America’s most beloved playgrounds. At 1.5 million acres, Lake Mead National Recreation Area is twice the size of Rhode Island and offers plenty of solitude, even when crowded. 

Lake Mead is Arizona’s busiest park, yet I always seem to find a chunk to claim for myself. Most folks stick to the Nevada side so they miss out on Willow Beach, Temple Bar and Katherine Landing.

Trails are seldom crowded, and I spend lots of time sitting on an isolated beach watching kayakers glide beneath slanted mountain slopes. As a desert rat, the soft kiss of water lapping against rocks soothes me. Surely there can be no sweeter sound.

My favorite stretch of the park is Lake Mohave, flowing directly south from Hoover Dam. Narrow and shallow compared to Mead, it retains the feel of the old Colorado River, cradled by steep dark walls.

This 30-mile portion was designated as Black Canyon National Water Trail, the first in the Southwest, and the first to flow through a desert. It’s a kayaker's dream as the river winds past beaches, caves, coves, waterfalls and hot springs beneath towering cliffs of volcanic rock.

Details: $25 per vehicle. 702-293-8990, www.nps.gov/lake.

Petrified Forest National Park

The Petrified Forest always reminds me of the suburbs of the moon. 

A vast thin-grass prairie stretches for miles until it suddenly breaks apart against a cluster of inhospitable badlands, a virtual lunar landscape, except one drenched in vibrant hues. Layers of siltstone and shale are stacked in weird configurations and colored like blood and peaches.

The magnificent desolation intrigues me. I like to wander out into the Painted Desert, find a comfortable spot and eat a sandwich. I’m not sure why. I did it once and it became a weird tradition. When it comes to otherworldly picnic spots, Arizona is tough to beat.  

A single 28-mile scenic road winds through Petrified Forest National Park from north to south, carving out a visitor-friendly experience filled with photogenic pullouts, exhibits, a historic former inn, archaeological sites and short hiking trails. 

Guests can chat with a paleontologist on certain days at the north end of the park. Behind the visitor center, the Museum Demonstration Lab is the scientific equivalent of an open kitchen restaurant. Peer through big windows overlooking the workstation where fossils are cleaned and studied and question the resident brainiac. Ask where they’re cloning the Velociraptors, I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of that. 

Details: $25 per vehicle. 928-524-6228, www.nps.gov/pefo.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Stand on the rim of Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de-SHAY) in the heart of Navajo country where the world seems still and peaceful. Gaze down into the depths and don’t be surprised if it calls to you. What you’re seeing is home.

It is the ultimate home, an enduring cherished home for various cultures spanning 5,000 years — longer than anyone has lived uninterrupted on the Colorado Plateau. In fact, Canyon de Chelly is one of North America’s longest continuously inhabited landscapes. 

Sheer walls plunge almost straight down to a sandy floor. A thin ribbon of water wends its way through stands of cottonwood trees. Horses graze in green pastures at the base of the cliffs. Gardens and orchards surround hogans — traditional Navajo dwellings — and other structures. Canyon de Chelly is still home to dozens of Navajo, or Dine?, families.  

The national monument consists of two major gorges cut from the slickrock landscape at the fringe of the Chuska Mountains. They form a rough sideways V, with the visitor center at the narrow end where the canyons join, and the town of Chinle just beyond. 

Paved roads trace the canyon rims offering panoramic overlooks that highlight scenic features of the gorge and the remnants of ancient villages left behind by the Ancestral Puebloan people. For optimum lighting, drive the north rim in the morning and south rim in afternoon. 

If time permits, take a Navajo-led tour into the inner canyon. You can choose horseback rides, jeep rides and guided hikes. Group tours are offered by Thunderbird Lodge (928-674-5842, www.thunderbirdlodge.com).

Details: Free admission. There are fees for tours. 928-674-5500, www.nps.gov/cach.

Saguaro National Park

Two segments of Saguaro National Park bookend Tucson and contain vast cactus forests and rising mountains, creating a stunning desert playground on the city’s doorstep.

Both units have a visitor center, scenic drive and more than 175 miles of trails between them. The western district in the Tucson Mountains supports the densest cactus groves and is best for those with limited time. The eastern district climbs from desert into the ponderosa pines of the Rincon Mountains, a delicious surprise. 

My favorite Saguaro National Park trail is in the western district. The long, lanky Hugh Norris Trail climbs through desert scrub, snags a ridgeline and chases it to the top of Wasson Peak. It’s a strenuous 10-mile round-trip hike but affords some of the best views in Tucson. This was the trail that started me on the path to becoming the grizzled desert rat I am today.  

Large groupings of saguaros are often called a forest but to me they resemble an army — an army forever slow-marching across the valleys and up the rocky slopes. Is it weird that I always think of saguaros as possessing personalities? These slow-growing giants feel like something out of ancient times. They are positively Ent-ish, shepherds of a harsh land. To discover they walk around the Arizona desert in the deep moonlight would surprise me not at all.

Two national parks are named for iconic symbols of Arizona — Grand Canyon and Saguaro. Plenty of numbskulls think that’s all Arizona has to offer, a big hole in the ground and lots of desert. But even if that were true — speaking as someone who has fallen under the spell of both — it would be more than enough. 

Details: $25 per vehicle. 520-733-5158 (West), 520-733-5153 (East), www.nps.gov/sagu.

Grand Canyon National Park

And then there is the Canyon.

Nothing prepares you for the emotional and spiritual wallop of that first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. It is an epiphany lying in wait. You approach through a screen of forest until suddenly everything you thought you knew — everything that seemed safe and comfortable — is snatched away and you teeter on the edge of ruin. 

Stretching before you is a sea of naked rock, an endless array of temples and terraces, castles and cathedrals, awash in reckless light. The eons are stacked in layers below, nearly 2 billion years of geology laid bare. You stand at the end of the world and gaze toward the beginning.

The size is unfathomable. You barely approach the rim, yet the canyon surrounds you, engulfs you, threatens to swallow you whole. Colors rage amid drifting cloud shadows and slanted sunlight. Cliffs of sandstone, limestone, shale and schist are streaked red and purple, orange and yellow. These are broken mountains, propping up jagged horizons for a virtual eternity. Grand Canyon feels like a cataclysm pausing just to catch its breath.

The silence is a symphony. The silence seduces. It grabs hold of you. Wafting up from the abyss, a profound quiet eclipses the petty noise of everyday life. The whisper of the canyon blots out all other sound. For the first time in your life, you can actually hear distance. Welcome to the Grand Canyon.

Details: $35 per vehicle. 928-638-7888, www.nps.gov/grca.

New book: 'Arizona National Parks and Monuments'

Arizona travel expert and Arizona Republic contributor Roger Naylor's latest book is a comprehensive guide to all 34 national parks, monuments, historic sites and recreation areas in the state.

"Arizona National Parks and Monuments" includes an overview of what makes each park unique, a thorough description and history and all necessary information on road conditions, hiking trails, campgrounds, fishing, boating, tours, pet restrictions and more.

The book has 90 color photos and maps. It is available for $21.95 in parks, stores, and on Amazon. Signed copies are available at rogernaylor.com.

Naylor's other books include "Awesome Arizona: 200 Amazing Facts About the Grand Canyon State," "Arizona’s Scenic Roads and Hikes" and "Arizona State Parks."