Gulch, a collection of shops and galleries on a wildly hilly street that once housed 50 saloons and brothels.


NORTHERN ARIZONA Fragments of the Wild West are scattered throughout the


Blazin’ M Ranch


you can eat, sleep and breathe like a real ranch-hand. Lazy K Bar Ranch, Tanque Verde Ranch and White Stallion Ranch are three of the best for groups. Sixty-five miles southeast of Tucson sits the most famous


Wild West town of them all: Tombstone. Its reputation was cemented in the silver-boom days of 1881, when Wyatt Earp and his brothers, together with Doc Holliday, met up in a violent quarrel with the Clanton Gang at O.K. Corral. Unquestionably, “the town too tough to die” now caters purely to tourists. However, what remains is the real thing – the dusty streets, the wooden boardwalks, the Bird Cage Theater, the Crystal Palace Saloon and notably, the O.K. Corral itself. Just before you arrive into town, you’ll encounter Boot Hill, the notorious graveyard where outlaws are buried. As you continue to explore Cochise County, drive a few


miles southeast to Bisbee, which once was the largest town between New Orleans and San Francisco. Bisbee’s fortunes were tied to its vast copper mines. Today, well-preserved miners’ shacks line the ridges that overlook the town. To see what fueled the growth, tour the Queen Mine, the Lavender Open Pit, a gargantuan gouge in the earth and Brewery


rugged, remote lands that characterize the northern half of the Grand Canyon state, but Prescott offers the boldest blend of old and new. In the 1860s, when President Abraham Lincoln established Arizona as a Territory, Prescott was made its first capital. Then, as now, Courthouse Plaza is Prescott’s central hub, its west side lined with a collection of haunts that comprise Whiskey Row. The Palace Saloon serves libations on the same bar that served Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. Prescott also lays claim to the world’s oldest rodeo held in early July, a distinction it shares with Payson, a mountain community a couple of hours to the east. Payson’s is billed as the world’s oldest continuous rodeo and its version takes place on the third weekend in August. Just a short distance from Prescott is the Verde Valley,


where you will find the Blazin’ M Ranch. Here you will step back in time with a chuckwagon-style all-you-can-eat barbeque dinner, live western stage show, rustic ambiance, and a western town complete with cowboy activities. Your final Wild West must-see is Monument Valley Navajo


Tribal Park in northeast Arizona. From the flat valley floor rises otherworldly natural sculptures of sandstone, piercing the horizon and the sky with an eerie precision. So starkly dramatic is the setting that it’s been used as the backdrop in hundreds of western movies, TV shows and commercials. There’s no question: If you’re fixing to discover the Wild West – past and present – Arizona is the place to hang your hat.


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