The 60-Stop Arizona Bucket List: Inside the Outdoor Adventure Map
Everyone knows Arizona has the Grand Canyon. Fewer people know it also has a creek that pours over travertine dams the color of turquoise, a wilderness where you hike the river because there is no trail, ghost-town hills where wild burros stop traffic, and a wave of petrified dunes so fragile the government runs a lottery to see it. We built the Arizona Outdoor Adventure Scratch-Off Map to make that whole state — not just the postcard — into a checklist you can hang on the wall. Sixty destinations, gold scratch foil, and no filler: the famous icons plus the slot canyons, desert peaks, and lakes locals actually go to.
Know before you go: The map collects 60 Arizona destinations spanning every corner of the state — from Havasu Falls and Antelope Canyon in the north to Chiricahua's rock pinnacles and Kartchner Caverns in the southeast, with Sedona, the Superstitions, the White Mountains, and the Colorado River country in between. A handful require real advance planning (Havasupai reservations, The Wave's permit lottery, Antelope Canyon's mandatory Navajo-guided tours), but most are drive-up-and-go with modest fees. Arizona's elevation range means the map has no off-season: desert destinations peak October through April, and the high country takes over all summer.
What's actually on the map?
Sixty stops, and the mix is the point. The icons are here — Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Havasu Falls, Saguaro and Petrified Forest national parks. So are the trophies that take some earning: The Wave and Buckskin Gulch in the Vermilion Cliffs country, Aravaipa Canyon's permit-only wilderness, Humphreys Peak — the roof of Arizona at 12,633 feet. And then there's the layer that makes locals nod: Fossil Creek's spring-fed swimming holes, the Mogollon Rim, Watson Lake's granite dells, the Salt River in tubing season, Kartchner Caverns' living cave, mining towns turned time capsules like Jerome, Bisbee, and Oatman, and wine country in both Verde Valley and Sonoita. Scratch one off and the map immediately suggests the next — that's the trap, and we set it on purpose.
How do you plan it by region?
The north (Page, Grand Canyon, Vermilion Cliffs): the permit-and-reservation zone. Start planning months out for Havasupai and The Wave; Antelope Canyon needs a booked Navajo-guided tour (see our full Antelope Canyon guide), while Horseshoe Bend asks nothing but a parking fee and good timing. Page makes the perfect basecamp night.
Sedona and the Verde Valley: red rock hikes, Oak Creek swimming holes, Slide Rock, Jerome, and wine tasting — the densest cluster of scratch-offs on the map. Go at sunrise or ride the shuttle; midday parking is the crux of every Sedona trail.
Flagstaff and the high country: Humphreys Peak, Lava River Cave, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, Wupatki — all within an hour of town. Summer is prime; this is where Phoenix escapes to.
Phoenix and the central deserts: Camelback, the Superstitions, Lost Dutchman, the Salt River lakes chain, Boyce Thompson Arboretum. October through April, full stop — summer here is for dawn starts or the lakes.
Tucson and the southeast: Saguaro National Park, Sabino Canyon, Mount Lemmon's 9,000-foot escape road, then the borderlands loop — Kartchner, Tombstone, Bisbee, Chiricahua — which might be the best two-day road trip nobody outside Arizona has heard of.
The west (Colorado River country): Lake Havasu, Oatman's burros, Kofa's desert bighorn country — winter gold, summer furnace.
Which ones need permits or lotteries?
The short list to plan around: Havasu Falls runs on advance reservations that sell out fast; The Wave (Coyote Buttes North) is lottery-only; Aravaipa Canyon caps daily entry with a permit; Antelope Canyon requires a guided tour booked with an authorized Navajo operator. Everything else on the map is largely show-up territory — state park day fees, a Red Rock Pass around Sedona, or nothing at all. Rules and windows shift season to season, so check the managing agency's site before you drive.
FAQs
How many of the 60 Arizona destinations need advance permits?
Only a handful: Havasu Falls (advance reservations), The Wave (permit lottery), Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness (daily-capped permit), and Antelope Canyon (mandatory guided tour with a Navajo operator). The rest are drive-up destinations with standard day-use or state park fees.
What's the best time of year for an Arizona adventure road trip?
October through April for the desert two-thirds of the map — Phoenix, Tucson, the west — and June through September for the high country around Flagstaff and the White Mountains. Spring and fall are the crossover windows when nearly everything on the map is in season at once.
Can you do the Arizona map with kids?
Most of it, yes — destinations like Horseshoe Bend, Slide Rock, Kartchner Caverns, Meteor Crater, and the Salt River are kid-favorites, and even the icons like Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon work for school-age children. The exceptions are the earn-it entries like Humphreys Peak, Buckskin Gulch, and Aravaipa Canyon.
When does the Arizona Outdoor Adventure map ship?
It's on preorder now and ships August 5, 2026. The map is printed on heavyweight archival stock at 16 by 20 inches, sized for a standard frame.
Start scratching: the Arizona Outdoor Adventure Scratch-Off Map ships August 5. Destination deep-dives are rolling out in the Adventure Database — Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend are live now.
Ryan Laboy — Co-founder, McSenderson. Single-digit handicap golfer and ten-year skier based in Flagstaff, Arizona. Researches and designs every McSenderson map. hello@mcsenderson.com