Winter break

A spiritual vortex among the red rocks in Sedona.

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

This Wild West ghost town on Route 66 is filled with wild burros.

The story of Two Guns, Arizona could easily be described as a Shakespearian tragedy on Route 66.

A classic Route 66 landmark that was built with scrap lumber and is held together with kitsch and puns.

Some of the tallest ancient American ruins continue to inspire awe and curiosity.

All of the 20 occupied houses in this mostly abandoned town feature some curious display of junk art.

This golf ball–shaped former desert real estate office now houses a UFO museum.

A mysterious spirit totem at the edge of Navajo lands.

This collection of Wild West movie memorabilia also claims to hold some secrets of the Lost Dutchman's mine.

Hidden inside this Arizona fast food franchise is an in-depth exhibit on the famed WWII counterintelligence program.

These free-roaming horses were once destined to disappear from the land.

One of the largest open-pit copper mining operations in the entire country.

A once popular resort—said to be the vacation spot of gangster Al Capone—now remains abandoned in the woods of Arizona.

These mid-century motels once housed the workers who built the Glen Canyon Dam.

The lost ruins of the forgotten ferry lie hidden beneath the silt.

A scrap-metal sculpture recalls an infamous 19th-century camel.

In this small Phoenix taxidermy emporium, you can find everything from a squid in a jar to a freeze-dried toad.

The largest natural travertine bridge in the world is nestled in a small canyon in central Arizona.

Ninety feet off the valley floor is an ancient dwelling put under protection of the U.S. government by Teddy Roosevelt.

Once the product of an inexplicable gold strike, this ghost town is now home to one man and his love of classic machines.

Eons ago, a rushing lava river formed this pristine passage through solid rock.

The eroded core of an ancient volcano is now accessible by a short hike.

Don't blink or you'll miss it.

A series of labyrinths in the Nevada desert inspire meditation and calmness.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.

This immigrant bridge once spanned the Thames but is now a fixture of an Arizona city.

Opinions differ as to whether this Arizona tree was actually used as a Wild West jail, but that hasn't stopped the town from capitalizing on it.

The largest and most well-preserved petroglyph site in the Verde Valley.

This historic national park is covered in the stunning ruins of red rock pueblos.

A nature and cultural preserve named for its multitude of petroglyphs carved by the Northern Sinagua people.

Ancient pueblos built into the base of a natural canyon wall.

A secret fresh water spring for animals and humans alike hidden along the most famous road in the United States.

Thousands of glyphs created by an unknown culture decorate the rock formations of this canyon.