AZ You Like It Trivia Quiz

Answer: Grand Canyon

Sometimes Mother Nature likes to show off a little, and I say, good for her! The Grand Canyon stretches 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (289 hm) wide, and over a mile (161 dam) deep, and it's the kind of place that makes even the most annoyingly chatty tourists go quiet and stare, for at least a moment... unless you're me, and you become violently ill.

Those famous red, orange, and cream-colored layers are like the Earth's very long, overly dramatic diary with each stripe acting as a chapter in a geological story that spans nearly two billion years. Carved primarily by a very persistent Colorado River, the Grand Canyon draws millions of visitors every year, whether they're hiking, rafting, vomiting, or just trying to take a photo that captures a tiny part of its magnificent scale.

Answer: Phoenix

Phoenix is a place where the people face down a blazing 110-degree day and say, "At least it's a dry heat", as if that would stop the rubber on your sneakers from melting. And no, I'm not translating that into Celsius for you. At 110, the only difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius is if you'd prefer your organs cooked medium or well done.

Phoenix is Arizona's capital and largest city, a sprawling desert metropolis built in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, home of saguaros (big tree-like cacti), unending sunshine, and people wearing shorts in months when everyone else in the country is still de-icing their car doors.

It's also a major economic powerhouse, with booming industries in tech, healthcare, finance, and aerospace. Phoenix grew rapidly in the 20th century thanks to air conditioning (indoors remains the best way to enjoy the city) and today it's one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. In theory, you can go from a downtown high-rise to a cactus-dotted hiking trail in under 20 minutes, but why would you want to?

Answer: Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park is proof that Earth likes to collect souvenirs from Arizona, too. It's located in northeastern Arizona and is best known for its brilliantly colored fossilized wood, logs that turned to stone over millions of years, now looking fabulous in brilliant hues of red, purple, and yellow. Despite the name, it's not really a dense "forest" anymore; it's a wow-inducing stretch of Painted Desert badlands dotted with ancient, rainbow-like remnants of a very different world.

The park is also a nostalgic stop for fans of Americana, thanks to historic Route 66 historically running right through the spot. There's even a 1932 Studebaker shell sitting beside the roadbed at one cutout, put there by the National Park Service (I'm sure it seemed like good idea at the time, but I've seen the picture). Between its fossils, archaeological sites, surreal landscapes, and rusty cars, Petrified Forest is one of Arizona's most underrated treasures and can make anybody wish they had gotten into geology instead of computer science, which at best will get you a 2022 Hyundai SUV.

Answer: Montezuma Castle National Monument

Montezuma Castle National Monument is where you go to learn that people will pretty much live anywhere. Built by the Sinagua people around 1100-1300 CE, this remarkably well-preserved cliff dwelling sits tucked into a sheer limestone wall overlooking Beaver Creek. With multiple stories, neatly constructed rooms, and a prime vantage point, it's your basic "penthouse with a view," except far more practical. The height offered protection, cooler temperatures, and a nice breeze. It had the added benefit of seriously deterring unexpected visitors. (Always text first.)

And just to clear up a couple things about Montezuma Castle: it's definitely not a castle, and Montezuma had absolutely nothing to do with it. Early European settlers saw an impressive ancient structure. They knew about the Aztecs. They knew about castles. The rest is an exercise in linguistic shenanigans.

In truth, the Sinagua built it long before Montezuma II was even born, and the Aztec empire never approached Arizona. But the misnomer stuck, perhaps because "Sinagua Cliff Condos" was already taken. Today, it stands as one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America and an incredible testament to the ingenuity of the people who called this desert landscape home.

Answer: Colorado River

The Colorado River is pretty much Arizona's lifeline. It's the state's giant, winding, and sometimes stubborn water source that makes life in the desert possible. After Utah finishes watering their desert golf courses, what's left of it flows into Arizona and heads west to the border, before turning south and separating the state from California. It supplies water to cities, farms, tribal nations, and lots of outdoor swimming pools in Phoenix. Without the Colorado, large stretches of the state would look much more like the surface of Mars, but hotter (a dry heat, though).

This is the same river responsible for carving the Grand Canyon, which is kind of the ultimate one-upmanship flex, at least for a body of water. Today, the river is carefully managed through dams, reservoirs like Lake Mead, and interstate water agreements. It may not always be predictable, but it's essential, dramatic, and the reason Arizona can grow anything more demanding than a cactus.

Answer: Flagstaff

Flagstaff is Arizona's mountain city, a high-altitude hub surrounded by ponderosa pine forests, widespread volcanic landscapes, and the towering San Francisco Peaks, including Humphreys Peak, the highest point in the state. Perched at about 7,000 feet (2100 m), it enjoys four real seasons (something to be savored in Arizona); summers feel almost scandalously pleasant compared to the desert below, and winters regularly dump enough snow to keep the local ski resort, Arizona Snowbowl, in business.

Located along the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, the city creates a mix of outdoor activities with more of that historic Route 66 charm, a lively university culture, and a whole lot of cold-weather bragging rights for those living down below.

Answer: Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is a place that looks like Mom got a little too enthusiastic while playing with the "swirl" tool in Photoshop. It's a rugged, remote expanse along the Arizona-Utah border that's a delightful source of slot canyons, soaring escarpments, bizarre hoodoos, and other weird rock formations painted in flashy bands of red, orange, gold, and white.

Its most famous feature, The Wave, is a sandstone masterpiece that has turned into a bucket-list destination for hikers and photographers, so popular that access is now limited by a notoriously cut-throat permit lottery. However, I provided a photo, so you can stay cool in your air-conditioned home. Beyond that particular internet-famous landmark, the monument's vast wilderness shelters California condors, ancient petroglyphs, and some of the most interesting desert scenery in the Southwest.

Answer: Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is a lovely place where nature and human history come together in an unusual pairing. It's located in the heart of the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona, and the canyon has been home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, from the ancient Ancestral Puebloans to the Hopi. It continues today with Navajo families who still live and farm within the canyon.

Sheer sandstone walls hide ancient cliff dwellings like White House Ruin, while petroglyphs and pictographs offer glimpses into thousands of years of culture, with almost no teenage girls making duck lips faces. With its towering spires (I'm looking at you, Spider Rock), winding canyon floors, and living communities, Canyon de Chelly is not just a monument... it's a continuous story stretching back nearly five millennia.

Answer: Lake Havasu City

If your eccentric uncle was a city in Arizona, he'd be called Lake Havasu City. The city is the proud - if curious - owner of the New London Bridge constructed in 1831. This is the one that replaced the original London Bridge and preceded the current London Bridge and for some reason is still called the New London Bridge. Got it?

In the 1960s, Lake Havasu City founder and professional Big Idea Man Robert P. McCulloch wanted something to draw attention to his newly planned desert community. So when London decided to replace its aging 1830s bridge, McCulloch said, "If you're not going to be using that..." and bought it for $2.46 million.

But he couldn't just fly it in as-is. That would be silly. The entire granite exterior was dismantled block by endless block over three years, each stone numbered like a giant LEGO set, shipped across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal, and reassembled in the Arizona desert atop a modern concrete structure. They even dug a channel under the bridge afterwards so it would actually... well, you know... be a bridge.

Today, Lake Havasu City is a hotspot for recreation: boating, beaches, spring break madness, desert trails, and enough sunshine to fry an egg on the surface of your choice. The bridge is now one of the most popular attraction in Arizona after the Grand Canyon, proving yet again that we live in the end times.

Answer: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was established in 1937 and protects one of the most intact stretches of Sonoran Desert in the United States. It's also the only place in the U.S. where large stands of the organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi, if you're one of those people) grow in nature. The monument sits along the Arizona-Sonora border with Mexico and was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to help conserve its unique mix of plants and animals adapted to a so-called "green" desert that blooms after rain.

Beyond the weird organ-pipe silhouettes, the park is rich with life... saguaro and senita cacti, nocturnal mammals and reptiles, and hundreds of bird species. About 95% of the monument is designated wilderness, so you get big, quiet landscapes and spectacular dark skies for stargazers, astrophotographers, and the vampires who feast on them.