Escape Phoenix

You’ll probably be famished, so make your first stop at the Diamond Creek Restaurant to fill up with home-style cooking before you start exploring historic downtown Peach Springs. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. You can up the ante by ordering the Devastator Taco—a super-sized feast full of refried beans, taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and salsa. If you can eat this almost six pound dish in 60 minutes or less, you get a t-shirt and your photo on the wall of fame, plus your meal is free! Once you’ve satisfied your hunger, it’s time to explore.

Start in historic downtown Peach Springs, Arizona, and visit two insta-worthy landmarks along this Route 66 town. The John Osterman Shell Station is an historic gas station listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The Historic Peach Springs Trading Post is a Pueblo Revival building built in 1928 by Cecil Davis that has served as a post office and a general store. For more adventures, go a little farther.

The Grand Canyon Caverns is nearby. If you decide to take the tour, you’ll be lowered 21 stories underground by an elevator. Discover unique geological formations as you traverse smoothly paved walking paths in the mild 56 degrees of the largest dry caverns in the United States.

If you prefer to stay above ground, you can embark on a wild journey at the Keepers of the Wild Nature Park. This picturesque 175-acre canyon in nearby Valentine, Arizona, is home to over 130 wild animals, including lions, tigers, wolves, bears, leopards, primates and other indigenous Southwest wildlife.