Located in Arizona’s north-west, the yawning crevices and stacked rocks of the Grand Canyon burn amber and red from a distance, but up close every hue imaginable dances and shifts in the changing light. Whether you’re viewing the landscape from above or below – or even from a paddle boat while bobbing like a cork down a wash of white foam on the Colorado River – you’ll find its place on the list of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World indisputable.

The experience of watching the sunrise drip shades of gold over the canyon from Yaki Point lookout is bucket list-worthy for good reason. Nestled in a no-vehicle zone along the lesser-travelled East Rim Drive – visitors walk from the nearby carpark or catch the complimentary orange shuttle bus from the Grand Canyon Visitor Centre – Yaki Point’s seclusion will have you feeling like you have the area almost entirely to yourself. Rent a bike from Canyon Adventures right next to the South Rim Visitor Center and cycle the 11.5-kilometre trail to the lookout.

Experience the majesty of the natural wonder in a way that gets the adrenaline flowing. Let whitewater toss you down channels lined by towering quartz, granite and limestone on a full or half-canyon guided rafting tour down the Colorado River, or hike the 3.5-kilometre trail to Ooh Aah Point on the South Kaibab Trail and admire the landscape up close. For something special, a helicopter ride at sunset tilts your perspective on its axis and gives you a view of the Grand Canyon that few get to see.

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The Grand Canyon’s scenic Bright Angel Trail winds 12.6 kilometres from the South Rim trailhead down to the Colorado River. Well-maintained and dotted with water stations and shelters, the hike is ideal for those looking for an action-packed day with plenty of opportunities to stop and take in the surroundings. For a bite-sized adventure, there are more leisurely variations such as the 7.2-kilometre section that ends at Havasupai Gardens – “Ha’a Gyoh” in the native language of the Havasupai people. If you prefer more of a challenge, opt for the trek up to Plateau Point – this 12.5-kilometre return trip rewards you with 360-degree views over the canyon and river below. Be sure to check the National Park Service website before you go to check for trail maintenance or closures during the winter months.

You’ve heard of golden hour, but photographer Adam Schallau can teach you all about capturing “blue hour” – the gloaming that colours the earth in dusty purples and blues as the sun disappears below the horizon – on film. On a four-hour Sunset Photo Tour, Schallau will take you to some of the South Rim’s best-kept secret spots, giving you the ideal vantage points for breaking out the camera.

Against a backdrop of multi-coloured layered rock in the Navajo and Apache counties of north-eastern Arizona, 225-million-year-old fossilised fallen trees pepper the Petrified Forest National Park. Sprawled over 896 square kilometres, this late-Triassic-period forest has been described as ‘two parks in one’ due to the ancient, preserved wonders that stand side-by-side with the living, high-altitude ecosystem that thrives there today.

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Petrified Forest National Park is where you’ll find Newspaper Rock, one of the largest-known collections of petroglyphs in the country. The site’s varied rock faces are etched with more than 650 powerful culturally significant symbols that were created over centuries – some were hewn as far back as 2000 years ago by the Ancestral Puebloan people, near the ancient village of Puerco Pueblo.

The northern part of the Petrified Forest National Park extends into Arizona’s Painted Desert, so-named for its stratified rock layers that have been coloured in pink, orange and purple by mineral deposits. Explore the badlands via the Painted Desert Rim Trail, an easy 1.6-kilometre hike stretching between Tawa Point and Kachina Point trailheads, to take in the neverending rock formations in all their technicoloured glory.

The petrified woods for which the national park is named are primarily made up of quartz mineral deposits that have slowly replaced the wood itself over thousands of years, preserving the shape of the fallen trees. The result is a shimmering tribute to a forest that once stood and now looks like something out of a fantasy novel. Walk the 1.2-kilometre Crystal Forest Trail loop to see sparkling crystal formations within the long lines of preserved logs.

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You don’t get much more Americana kitsch than the town of Holbrook, a 20-minute drive from the Petrified Forest National Park. Swing past the historic Wigwam Motel – a quintessential example of Route 66 roadside architecture from the golden era of 1950s roadtrips – and stay the night in one of the teepee-shaped rooms, wet your whistle at Arizona Sake (crowned "World's Best Sake Made Outside Japan" at Tokyo’s 2018 Sake Competition) with an award-winning drop, snap a photo with the iconic Highway of Dreams 1932 Studebaker car and take in the region’s more recent history at the 1898 Navajo County Historical Society Museum, which includes tours of the old county jail.

Speckled with more than two million giant saguaro cacti, the symbol of the American West, Saguaro National Park is split down the middle by the city of Tucson, with hectares of red and gold desert on one side and rolling mountain foothills on the other.

To the east of Tucson, a hiker’s wonderland awaits: 240 kilometres of trails crisscross the expansive rocky terrain with options to suit every fitness level and timeline. The 3.2-kilometre loop of the Mica View Trail is the ideal entry into the region, offering an easy stroll through low-level desert vegetation and vistas of the Rincon Mountains. Alternatively, tackle the ambitious Hope Camp Trail, a 10-kilometre out-and-back track that climbs to unforgettable panoramic views.

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Find yourself in a real-life Roadrunner cartoon when traversing the dramatic 12.9-kilometre Cactus Forest Loop, a 50-minute drive east of Tucson. As its name suggests, the one-way trail forges through extensive saguaro forests, with the arms of the chunky cacti reaching skyward in every shade of green and reaching heights of up to 12 metres tall. The road is mostly paved and can be tackled by foot or on a bicycle.

When you picture a museum, chances are you’re not envisioning the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a 40-hectare zoo, botanical garden, natural history museum, aquarium and art gallery in one. Discover fascinating fossils and geological gems at the Earth Sciences Center, wander through botanical gardens showcasing over 1,200 plant species and visit the Ironwood Art Gallery to admire works celebrating the Sonoran Desert's beauty.

Home to the largest collection of Sonoran adobe houses in the United States, painted in every colour of the rainbow, Tucson’s Barrio Viejo (Spanish for old neighbourhood) is a bright and playful celebration of Mexican culture in the south-west. Sip a Shire Water cocktail – gin, apple shrub, elderflower, apple brandy and prosecco – in a whitewashed 160-year-old building at Nightjar, wander down cobbled streets in the afternoon shade while popping into nearby cantinas for a bite to eat, make a wish at the El Tiradito Wishing Shrine and soak in the fiesta through every one of your senses.

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10 Bucket List Adventures You Can Only Have in Arizona