A collection of the best US Southwest travel stories featured in The Statesider US Travel Newsletter: Arizona | New Mexico | Southern Utah
Also see: California, Mountain West, Texas & Oklahoma
Arizona Travel Stories
Arizona Catfish: The Yaqui catfish was heading towards extinction. Then the border wall project came. Ben Goldfarb, High Country News
Route 66 Sake: Holbrook, Arizona: the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, a Wigwam Motel, a legit old-school Dairy Queen… and high-end Japanese sake? How an elite sake brewer ended up in the Arizona desert. Abbie Gripman, Atlas Obscura
Time Travel: Hate the time change? Take a trip through the “Daylight Saving Doughnut.” (Doughnuts not included.) Vanessa Swales, New York Times
Route 66, Native Edition: It’s almost synonymous with the great American road trip, but Route 66 transits native lands. An e-guide helps travelers learn about the native people who were here before the so-called Mother Road. Shoshi Parks, Yes! Magazine
Grand Canyon: “Most Americans think Native Americans are gone but we’re still here,” says a Havasupai council member who grew up in the Grand Canyon. “This is the home of Native Americans and our stories need to be told.” Lauren Morales, NPR
Rafting the Grand Canyon: It was a sad day when the great travel writer Tim Cahill drowned while rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. But he came back to life — and then he went back for more. Tim Cahill, Outside
Mapping the Southwest: Field cartographer Shane Henry has spent nearly 20 years driving some of the most treacherous roads in the Southwest. Ride along as he researches AAA’s long-treasured “Indian Country” map. Jim Benning, Westways Magazine (Gosh, if only everyone lived in 90001 so they could read this great story…)
Tucson Food: Finding the heart of Tucson in a late-night burrito joint. Cord Jefferson, Eater
New Mexico Travel Stories
Santa Fe: If you’ve been to Santa Fe, you’ve probably stood right in front of a key spot in the history of the atomic bomb and never known it. Larry Bleiberg, BBC Travel
Snow Shovels, But Fun: This is what it feels like to go 57 mph down a steep hill on an out-of-control snow shovel. On purpose. It’s a New Mexico tradition. Mary Claire Fischer, 5280
New Mexico: New Mexico’s White Sands becomes America’s 62nd National Park. Caitlin Morton, Condé Nast Traveler FYI: It might be haunted by a heartsick ghost. Jeffrey A. Weller, Alamogordo Daily News
Zuni Mapping: A Zuni farmer and Zuni artists collaborate to challenge settler cartography and “reclaim the names of Zuni places and depict the land of the A:shiwi as they know and see it, immersing the viewer in a landscape interwoven with culture, story, and prayer.” Adam Loften & Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Emergence
New Mexico vs. Robots: Without enough workers to pick the peppers of New Mexico’s favorite crop, will robots learn art of pepper picking? Rose Eveleth, 99 Percent Invisible
Mystery Spots: A remote mountaintop observatory was shut down by the FBI with no explanation. What happened? (Hint: Don’t ask Reddit.) Dylan Taylor-Lehman, Narratively
Route 66, Native Edition: It’s almost synonymous with the great American road trip, but Route 66 transits native lands. An e-guide helps travelers learn about the native people who were here before the so-called Mother Road. Shoshi Parks, Yes! Magazine
Mapping the Southwest: Field cartographer Shane Henry has spent nearly 20 years driving some of the most treacherous roads in the Southwest. Ride along as he researches AAA’s long-treasured “Indian Country” map. Jim Benning, Westways Magazine (Gosh, if only everyone lived in 90001 so they could read this great story…)
The Giving Tree: In Taos, there is a tree that provides martinis to nervous (or thirsty) skiers. Atlas Obscura
Astrotourism: Go stargazing at “New Mexico’s Machu Picchu,” where people have been looking skyward for over 1100 years. Nneka M. Okona, National Geographic
Santa Fe Pie: Godspeed, Teresa Hernandez, the woman credited with the invention of Frito Pie. Olivia Harlow, Santa Fe New Mexican
Pueblo Breads: The Pueblo nations of New Mexico are renowned for their bread-baking skills. Andi Murphy, creator of the Toasted Sister Podcast, grew up eating Laguna Pueblo bread called “elephant toes,” but each of the 19 Pueblo nations has their own specialties and traditions. Andi Murphy, Eater
Southern Utah Travel Stories
The Point of Inspiration: Winter at Bryce Canyon: the crowds are long gone, and there’s plenty of space for reflection. For Andrew Evans and his father, it’s a chance to sort through family history and embrace a shared love of photography. Come along for the journey in this Statesider Original
The Cabin: Is wanderlust about running from something or toward something? In this beautifully written story, one world traveler finds the answer in a pine-scented cabin in remote southern Utah. Lavinia Spalding, Longreads
Mountain Biking Utah: Getting lost on a mountain bike in Edward Abbey territory — on purpose. Christopher Solomon, Outside
Utah Rocks: Wake up, sheeple. With so many amazing rock formations in canyon country, why is everyone obsessed with the Wave? Melanie Haiken, Sierra Magazine