Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

USA

New River, Arizona & Phoenix Art Museum: A Hidden Base Camp

by

Last Updated: May 2, 2026

New River, Arizona sits about 36 miles north of downtown Phoenix in the terminus of the Black Canyon — an unincorporated community of fewer than 20,000 people that most travelers pass without noticing on I-17. We came here from Canyon de Chelly via Holbrook — about a three-hour drive — using it as a comfortable base camp between the Colorado Plateau and the Tucson desert. Founded in 1868 as a stagecoach stop, New River is the kind of place that still feels like the real Arizona rather than the sprawling Phoenix metro that’s steadily encroaching from the south. Master planned communities like Anthem have already pushed this far north — but for now, New River retains its high desert character. From here we continued on to Fort McDowell.

Phoenix Art Museum exterior in downtown Phoenix Arizona the largest art museum in the state with 18000 pieces across three floors

[Read more…] about New River, Arizona & Phoenix Art Museum: A Hidden Base Camp

Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park: Arizona’s Ancient Landscape

by

Last Updated: May 2, 2026

Driving across northern Arizona on I-40 — the modern descendant of old Route 66 — it’s easy to treat Petrified Forest National Park as a quick roadside stop between bigger destinations. That would be a mistake. This park, which encompasses both the Painted Desert and one of the world’s largest concentrations of petrified wood, is one of the most geologically and archaeologically extraordinary places we’ve visited anywhere in the American Southwest. We came through in October traveling between Canyon de Chelly and Winslow, and we wished we’d budgeted more time. The park deserves a full day — ideally two.

Panoramic view of the Painted Desert badlands in Petrified Forest National Park showing the colorful banded red purple and gold hills of northern Arizona
[Read more…] about Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park: Arizona’s Ancient Landscape

Canyon de Chelly National Monument: Arizona’s Most Underrated Wonder

by

Last Updated: May 2, 2026

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “Canyon de Shay”) has been on our list for as long as either of us can remember. It appears regularly in Arizona Highways magazine — those sweeping red-walled canyon shots that make you stop turning pages — and it has the kind of remote, sacred quality that most famous national parks have long since traded away for visitor centers and shuttle buses. Our first attempt to visit was in 2020, but COVID shut the National Monument down entirely. When we finally made it in late 2022, driving down from Dolores, Colorado — about a three-hour drive — it exceeded every expectation we’d built up over the years.

Sweeping aerial view of Canyon de Chelly National Monument showing deep red sandstone canyon walls and canyon floor in northeastern Arizona

[Read more…] about Canyon de Chelly National Monument: Arizona’s Most Underrated Wonder

Ouray Fall Magnificence

by

Ouray, Colorado’s Fall Foliage is some of the best in the state because of the number of aspen and rugged mountains. Timing is everything. Last time we were here, we missed the peak by about a week and most of the leaves were down. It just takes a good rain or a few windy days to knock them off the aspen. This time it was peak, but it rained most days during our week stay. The bad thing about the rain was the jeep trails were mud, many of the yellow-orange leaves had fallen and clouds blocked the mountain peaks. The good thing was that snow fell above 10,000 feet creating dramatic snow capped mountain images.

Red Mountain Pass, Ouray Fall Foliage, Colorado
[Read more…] about Ouray Fall Magnificence

Leadville, Colorado-Rocky Mountain High

by

Leadville, Colorado was our highest elevation full hookup RV campground at 10,152 feet. It is also the highest city in the United States. Leadville is surrounded by two of the tallest 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. Fortunately, we were acclimated to the higher elevation, but it is never enough. The area is beautiful, especially in the fall with the aspen changing color. From Breckenridge to Leadville it was about an hour drive.

Aspen, Leadville, Colorado
[Read more…] about Leadville, Colorado-Rocky Mountain High