A 96-minute drive to the southeast of Phoenix brings you to the city of Tucson, home to Sabino Canyon. Nearly 50 kilometres of trails spider-web across the landscape, where towering, cartoonish cacti burst forth from blankets of low-lying jojoba scrub, waterfalls and craggy amber cliffs, all silhouetted by some of the most impressive sunsets you’ll ever see. With 14 separate walking trails on offer, ranging from easy to challenging, the much-loved 14.3-kilometre Bear Canyon track is a 3.5-hour round trip that climbs gradually through prickly pear and granitic gneiss rock formations to reach the thundering cascades of Seven Falls.

Surrounded by towering jagged cliffs, the famous ‘slide rock’ – a natural waterslide smoothed over by centuries of rushing water – sends gleeful visitors whizzing down its 24-metre length into a cool, freshwater pool. While it’s the main attraction at Slide Rock State Park, located in Oak Creek Canyon just north of the city of Sedona, there are plenty of other selling points in the area. Take your pick of walking trails, picnic areas and viewing points to admire the burnt reds and vibrant greens of the magnificent landscape.

To stroll the historic streets of Willcox is to step back in time, with one notable exception: it happens to also be the hub of a thriving contemporary wine scene. A heritage cowboy town in the heart of the Sulphur Springs Valley wedged between Mount Graham to the north and Chiricahua Peak to the southeast, it produces more than 70 per cent of Arizona’s wine grapes. Willcox offers a range of unique tasting experiences where you can sample the state’s signature high-altitude varieties while bathing in the rustic charm of a Western film-like setting.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to call crossing this renowned chasm of stacked sandstone and limestone the ultimate Arizona experience. The gruelling, 38-kilometre trek begins at the North Rim and dips more than 1,800 metres to the light-dappled floor of the canyon before climbing back out again to the South Rim. While not for the faint-hearted – less than one per cent of Grand Canyon visitors undertake the challenge – there is no substitute for the feeling of conquering one of the seven wonders of the world.

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Named in honour of the patron saint of winemaking, this elevated new wine bar from chef-owner Christopher Collins in Scottsdale, to the east of Phoenix, serves up laid-back share plates alongside a rotating list of 30 innovative West Coast wines and Arizona craft beers. Expect everything from blistered shishito peppers to San Francisco-style sourdough with chicken-skin butter.

Just south of Prescott, the Bradshaw Mountains are steeped in an eerie history. Rugged terrain is punctuated by abandoned mines and their nearby deserted townships, where gravesites, empty stores and whisper-quiet villages provide a spooky road map to explore. Rent a 4WD and plot a path through rough mountain trails and amber rock formations as you venture into a time capsule of a bygone era.

The ombré-hued sculptural rock formations seem to dance as sunlight shines upon them in dreamy Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon near the city of Page in northern Arizona. This natural wonder draws fascinated crowds year-round, so plan ahead to nab a midday booking when the kaleidoscopic show is at its dazzling best, even though you may have to navigate bigger crowds.

East of Phoenix, a legend has made its home in the aptly named Superstition Mountains. The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, supposedly still full of riches, is a fable that has spawned many quests, but even if you’re not searching for precious metals, many other treasures await. Hike through jagged outcroppings that stretch skyward like giant hands, or take the 322-metre, accessible Native Plant Trail, which offers panoramic views across the mountains and a natural gallery of seasonal desert wildflowers along the way.

The journey is the destination on this most feted of road trips. “America’s Main Street”, as Route 66 is sometimes called, weaves a storied path through nearly 4,000 kilometres of the country. Arizona’s stretch of this historic highway is the longest, extending over 600 kilometres from the town of Lupton on the Arizona-New Mexico border to just west of Kingman near California. While this portion of the drive could be completed in under 10 hours, we recommend taking a leisurely three to six days to best take in the trail’s quirky roadside diners and kitsch vintage drive-ins while pausing to take in some of the most cinematic landscapes the US has to offer along the way.

What’s a visit to cowboy country without a horseback ride through dusty trails and endless sunsets? The Sonoran Desert, with its towering saguaro cacti and rippling hazy horizons, is the stuff of Western movie magic. Whether you take a gentle hour-long loop as part of an introductory ride, or embark on an overnight guided horseback expedition, watching the sunburnt landscape unfurl to the rhythmic clip-clop of your trusty steed is an experience unto itself.

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