For about half of any given year, much of Arizona is too hot to handle. But even in peak summer, the state is home to a stunning spread of geographic diversity and a mysterious magic that emanates from the landscape—and we don’t just mean the mirages. Locals and visitors alike flock to higher altitudes, recreation-friendly bodies of water, and indoor spaces that are so heavily air-conditioned they practically require a jacket.
Here are eight sheltered spots to retreat from the heat, from natural formations to an immersive art exhibit that invites lingering. We've even added a couple cool places (220 feet underground or a mile above sea level) to dream about spending the night.
To reach this restaurant, you’ll need to take an elevator 21 stories down, where you'll enter a 345-million-year-old cave network that stretches 60 miles to the Grand Canyon. Known as the Caverns Grotto, the four-table eatery offers simple American comfort food that makes a not-so-simple voyage to your table, 200 feet away from the sun's hot stare. With unobstructed views of the cave network's largest known chamber and zero sound interference (aside from other visitors), it’s an incomparable auditory and visual dining experience. (Read more.)
AZ-66, Peach Springs, AZ 86434
When the exterior of a giant lava flow hardens before its core does, a circular, subterranean tube is left in its wake. Spelunkers won’t find stalactites or stalagmites decorating this hall of echoes—just the smooth, near-perfect arch left by molten rock that passed through millennia ago. The most unique (and disorienting) feature of Coconino's tunnel is its “Y-intersection,” where three identical-looking passageways converge. (Read more.)
171B Forest Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
The project's official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all. Installed permanently at the Phoenix Art Museum, Yayoi Kusama's piece transforms a 25-foot-square space with mirror-lined walls, flooring of polished black granite, a black plexiglass ceiling, and 250 dangling LED lights programmed with alternating color. The effect is ethereal and powerful—as is the central cooling system. (Read more.)
1625 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world, this route exists in an area that contains a gap in the geological record, with some 225 million years unaccounted for in the surrounding rock formations. Three trails bring visitors all the way down to the 400-foot-long tucked-away tunnel, where a hiker can span millions of years with the length of their body. Just stand underneath the bridge with your feet on the rhyolite and your hands on the travertine. (Read more.)
AZ-87, Pine, AZ 85544
During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1961, then-President John F. Kennedy decided to create a safe place for evacuees should the bombs begin to rain down on American soil. Grand Canyon Caverns was the perfect spot. While the bombs never dropped, visitors can still take refuge in the caverns by staying in the Grand Canyon Caverns Underground Suite—one of the largest, oldest, darkest, quietest motel rooms in the world. This single room is located 220 feet below ground, near the area where JFK’s emergency rations (enough food and supplies to support over 2,000 people for at least a month) are still stored, kept fresh and usable after 40 years by the cavern’s naturally dry climate. (Read more.)
AZ-66, Peach Springs, AZ 86434
Although a 90-foot cross marks the facade on the Chapel of the Holy Cross, visitors without an interest in religion often describe their trek up the red rocks as a spiritual event. The Chapel is located in the heart of what many describe as a vortex that brings gratitude to those who enter (the city of Sedona is known for its mysticism scene). Despite this connection, the Chapel itself was actually built by a devout student of Frank Lloyd Wright, named Marguerite Brunswig Staude, in 1956. Either way, it's the coolest mountaintop in town. (Read more.)
780 Chapel Rd, Sedona, AZ 86336
What began in 1927 as a set of trailer and camping spaces in the historic copper mining town of Bisbee, Arizona, is now a monument to yesteryear. Situated a mile high, the Shady Dell is home to nine vintage travel trailers in the Mule Mountains. Among them are a 1949 Airstream, a 1950 Spartan Manor, and a 1951 Royal Mansion complete with leopard carpet, martini glasses, a diner-style breakfast booth, and a phonograph with a collection of 78rpm records. All can be booked for overnight stays. (Read more.)
1 Old Douglas Rd, Bisbee, AZ 85603
Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts first came across these limestone caverns in 1974, after detecting warm air emanating from a crack at the bottom of a sinkhole in the Whetstone Mountains. The men slipped through the crack and found a network of pristine caverns with spectacular rock formations, including massive stalagmites and stalactites. The cavers would return on several occasions over four years, discovering miles of passageways and chambers all the while keeping their find secret, even from the owners of the property. In 1988, the state of Arizona purchased the land and began developing what is now Kartchner Caverns State Park. (Read more.)
2980 AZ-90, Benson, AZ 85602