Leaving Clarkdale behind, the road merges with the bypass (see all you would have missed?) and begins a short ascent into the foothills of the Black Mountains. Each room displays a different theme, from art and architecture to drinkware to religious artifacts. Built by the owner of Jerome’s largest mine, Clarkdale was designed with precision planning and technological advancements far from the norm in the early 1900s.ĭon’t miss the Copper Art Museum, featuring 5,000 objects, copper art and collections dating to the 16th century. Then you drive through quaint Clarkdale, Arizona’s first company town. Outside of town Tuzigoot National Monument, an ancient Pueblo ruin, perches atop a limestone ridge overlooking the Verde River. Here you’ll find galleries, restaurants and wine tasting rooms housed in Prohibition-era buildings. Their only purpose seems to be to steer you away from the good stuff, from the very heart of the community.įollow Historic 89A, which will pass Dead Horse Ranch State Park, with hiking trails, fishing lagoons and horseback rides, before proceeding through Old Town Cottonwood. Surely bypass is the cruelest word in the lexicon of small towns.

That leads you out of town via the bypass. This short scenic road hides in plain sight, a curving twisting stretch of State Route 89A rising from the floor of the Verde Valley to Jerome, with plenty of fun swoopy driving.įrom the intersection of state routes 260 and 89A in Cottonwood, do NOT follow the signs to Jerome. More: Here's your ultimate burrito bucket list: 25 must-try burros across Arizona Jerome-Clarkdale-Cottonwood Historic Road

The other option is to travel north to Tucson via Interstate 19 from Nogales. You can return the way you came because there’s plenty to see all over again. Soups and tacos make up the menu, an excellent variety of each. If you’re hungry, step into Cocina La Ley and you’ll feel like you wandered a few blocks south and are dining across the border. A few more miles crossing grassy ridges, skirting small canyons with mountain views and the road ends in Nogales, the largest border city in Arizona.

Arizona scenery