Reservations, preserves waiting for your visit

Arizona is the heart of the Southwest, and our native peoples and lands are our heartbeat.

For thousands of years before the West was "wild," Arizona was wildly beautiful, home to ancient peoples who understood how to live in harmony with the Earth, and how to draw sustenance, spirit and strength from our deserts, our skies, our waters and our mountains - without depleting or scarring them.

Arizona has one of the largest American Indian populations in the United States and more land devoted to Indian reservations than any other state. The prehistoric or pre-Columbian Indian tribes that preceded modern-day Arizonans - tribes such as the Hohokam of southern Arizona, the Sinagua of central Arizona and the Anasazi of northern Arizona - left records, ruins and relics that attest to their high degree of sophistication in dry farming, water management, far-flung trade routes, and the making of jewelry, pottery and textiles. Today, visitors can explore ruins, assist archaeologists and even spend the night in an authentic Navajo Hogan.

The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian Nation in North America, covering over 27,000 square miles in parts of Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Lake Powell, which borders a portion of the reservation, is the second-largest man-made lake in the United States with 1,960 miles of shoreline - more than the entire west coast from Canada to Mexico. Diné Bikéyah, or Navajoland, is larger than 10 of the 50 U.S. States. It contains more than a dozen national monuments, tribal parks, and historical sites, as well as 12 lakes and ponds. Window Rock is the capital, located just west of the Arizona/New Mexico border. Tribal headquarters and the Navajo Veterans' Memorial are located in close proximity to the mystical rock formation for which the town was named. Kayenta, founded in 1909 as a trading post, is the gateway to the Navajo Tribal Park at Monument Valley and another great place to visit.

Of Arizona's 118,000 square miles, only about 15 percent, or an area roughly the size of Delaware, is privately owned. The rest is devoted to forests, parks, wilderness, wildlife preserves, recreation areas, and Native American reservations. From seas of stoic Saguaro cactus to thick groves of fragrant pine trees, Arizona's vast open spaces beg for exploration. Arizona boasts more national monuments than any other state in the continental United States and is second only to Alaska nationwide. The world's largest stretch of ponderosa pine forest meanders from the Eastern Arizona town of Alpine through Flagstaff, Prescott and Payson. The northwest corner boasts pine, spruce, and fir conifers, large stands of aspen, and lush grassy meadows to explore. The state's southeast corner offers a sea of lush, honey-colored meadows and is home to a rare orchid known as Canelo or Lady Slipper, which grows streamside in the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area.

Northern Arizona, central Arizona, southern Arizona and the Colorado River region all have preserves, recreation and reservations that are waiting for you to visit.

I encourage you to take time and find your Native Arizona.