20 Attractions to Explore Near Aravaipa Creek

Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness is a 19,410 acres wilderness area located in the U.S. State of Arizona.The wilderness includes the 11-mile long Aravaipa Canyon, the surrounding tablelands and nine side canyons. The Nature Conservancy's Aravaipa Canyon Preserve protects 7,000 acres of private land and is contiguous with the BLM wilderness area. A permit and fee are required to enter Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness. Use is limited to 50 people per day.

The Historic Kannally Ranch House in Oracle State Park was built in the later 1920s and early 1930s in Oracle, AZ.The original 160-acre ranch was purchased by Neil and Lee Kannally in 1903. The two brothers were later joined by three other family members and the ranch grew to almost 50,000 acres.The present Kannally Ranch House was built in 1929Ð1932 and is of Mediterranean Revival Style with Moorish influences, patterned on Italianate villas of the 1920s.

This is a 4,000 acre wildlife refuge in the northern foothills of the Catalina Mountains. The park offers day-use picnic areas and over 15 miles of trails for use by hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. The most common plants in Oracle State Park are prickly pear and cholla cactus, scrub oak, mesquite, many wildflowers, and the occasional piñon and juniper. Bird species include red-tailed hawks, golden eagles, prairie falcons, black-throated sparrows and so more.

Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe. It is a 3.14-acre structure originally built to be an artificial, materially closed ecological system, or vivarium. It remains the largest closed ecological system ever created.

Peppersauce Cave is a limestone cave found in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately ten miles south of Oracle, Arizona. Peppersauce is frequented by about 23,000 visitors every year and contains approximately one mile of mapped passages. The cave has been subject to vandalism and heavy littering for over fifty years.

The Needle's Eye Wilderness became part of the now over 109 million acre National Wilderness Preservation System established by the Wilderness Act of 1964. In wilderness, you can enjoy challenging recreational activities and extraordinary opportunities for solitude. It is surrounded by the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation to the north and south, and private lands to the east and west. Visitors must obtain permission in advance to access the Wilderness.

The Coronado National Forest is a United States National Forest that includes an area of about 1.78 million acres spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. The national forest is divided into five ranger districts, which are not contiguous; each consists of multiple sky island mountain ranges.

Coolidge Dam is a concrete multiple dome and buttress dam located on the Gila River in Arizona, United States. It was opened in the 1930s to provide irrigation water for the surrounding region. The dam is 249 feet tall and 580 feet long and impounds the waters of the Gila River to form San Carlos Reservoir.

Mount Lemmon Ski Valley is a recreational ski area in the U.S. state of Arizona, and the southernmost ski destination in the continental United States. Mount Lemmon Ski Valley is located on the slopes of Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains just north of Tucson, Arizona. It is part of the Coronado National Forest, located near the mountaintop village of Summerhaven.

It is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains. It is located in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Mount Lemmon was named for botanist Sara Plummer Lemmon, who trekked to the top of the mountain with her husband and E. O. Stratton, a local rancher, by horse and foot in 1881.

Also known as the Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately 28 kilometers northeast of Tucson, Arizona . The site in the Coronado National Forest is used with special permission from the U.S. Forest Service by the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, and contains a number of independently managed telescopes.

San Carlos is one of eight lakes with desert surroundings created by damming rivers in the hills around Phoenix, and like the others, it has quite a dramatic setting. The lake is located within the 3,000-square-mile San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and is thus subject to tribal regulations.Jet-skiing, water skiing, and boating are also allowed.

The 76,317-acre Galiuro Wilderness encompasses the mid to upper slopes of the mountains as they rise from golden grasslands, through dense thickets of evergreen oak, to stands of ponderosa pine. The mountains support vegetation varying from semidesert grasslands through pinion, juniper, oak, and brush to mixed conifers and even aspens in the higher elevations. A variety of wildlife can be found in the Galiuro Wilderness, including large mammals.

This is a roadside park deep in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, containing a monument to cowboy, actor, and Western star Tom Mix. The memorial with a metal silhouette of Mix’s steed – Tony the Wonder Horse – is near the spot in 1940 where the silent-film actor crashed and died in his era’s supercar, a 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton. Travelers stop near milepost 116 to pay their respects to an actor and trick rider who made close to 300 films from 1909 to 1935 and was paid as much as $17,000 per week.

San Carlos Lake was formed by the construction of the Coolidge Dam and is rimmed by 158 miles (254 km) of shoreline. The lake is located within the 3,000-square-mile San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. Because of irrigation needs, the water level at the lake sometimes is low enough to kill its self-sustaining fish, but during wet years, the water can overtop Coolidge Dam. Since construction of the dam, the lake has been nearly empty at least 20 times, and has been full only three times.

Catalina State Park is a state park of Arizona, United States, that is adjacent to Coronado National Forest on the western slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson.

Mount Turnbull is the highest point in the Santa Teresa Mountains in western Graham County, Arizona. The summit has an elevation of 8,284 feet and a prominence of 3,562 feet. It is the highest point in the Santa Teresa Mountains and the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. A recreational permit is required for access to reservation land.

Pinal Mountains are a mountain range located in Gila County, Arizona. They have a maximum elevation of 7,848 ft at Pinal Peak and a prominence of over 4,000 ft. The mountains are covered with Ponderosa Pine and white fir and experience cooler weather than the Globe/Miami area, so that they are a popular recreation area in the summer. The maintained facilities include a maintained dirt road that goes all the way to the summit of Pinal Peak, a campsite and recreational area, many hiking trails.

The White Canyon Wilderness in Arizona, is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. A very large escarpment known as the "Rincon" is a prominent landmark in the southern end of the wilderness. Vegetation in the area includes chaparral variety as well as saguaro cactus typical of the Sonoran Desert that support a variety of wildlife such as black bears and mountain lions.

St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery standing in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. It was established in the summer of 1995 in the name of Saint Anthony the Great. The closest town is Florence, Arizona. It is home for approximately 42 monks. It is open to both Orthodox and non-Orthodox visitors. Pilgrims can arrange to stay at the monastery in guest facilities, and other visitors are invited in daily from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm.