Dates: 18NOV – 21NOV2025
Locations Visited: Peoria, Dewey–Humboldt, Prescott, Jerome, Clarksdale, Cottonwood, Tuzigoot National Monument, Dead Horse Ranch State Park & Lost Dutchman State Park (AZ)
This is post is for our November trip in our van, Tofu. We are attempting to take at least one short trip each month during the winter in this van while exploring our own Arizona backyard. On this trip we visited our friends, Ginny and Benny, for a tasty lunch at their house in Peoria, AZ and then we spent the remainder of our time in the Verde Valley located in central Arizona which included the towns of Prescott, Jerome, Clarksdale and Cottonwood, AZ. We made a quick stop at Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction on our way home. Overall, another great mini-vacation that was completely stress-free.
Prescott, AZ: Hiking the easy, but quite lovely, Constellation Loop trail. 
Prescott, AZ: We hiked in between rain storms, but the one in the distance was approaching fast. We picked up our pace and made it back to the van with a few minutes to spare. 
Prescott, AZ: The Constellation Loop was more rocky than we anticipated. We were the only car in the lot (which is free on Wednesdays!) and we saw no other people on the trail. #retirement #score 
Prescott, AZ: The Phippen Museum was directly across from the Constellation trailhead so we decided to check it out. It was a lovely museum with a focus on Western Art including paintings, sculptures and photography. 
Prescott, AZ: The Phippen Museum included many different artists but we liked George Phibben’s work the best. He was both a painter and a bronze sculpture. 
Prescott, AZ: The Phippen Museum had very detailed information about George Phibben and he was known for his highly detailed and exceptionally accurate paintings. 
Dewey–Humboldt, AZ: We stayed at another HipCamp just outside of Prescott. This one was a large rural property used for canine agility training. The owner was out of town during our visit so we had the place to ourselves. It was very quiet and peaceful.
Prescott, AZ: The weather was looking a bit iffy and Tony was on the verge of cancelling this entire trip, but in the end it all worked out and the weather was much better than expected and forecasted to be. Our first day in Prescott was spent hiking the Constellation Loop in between storm fronts, touring the Phibben Museum which specialized in western art and going to the movies to see Running Man (spoiler alert: Tracey felt it wasn’t good😔but Tony liked it). We have both been to Prescott before and we enjoyed exploring this area in more detail on this visit. Since the town of Prescott is at a higher elevation than where we live, the weather was considerably colder with nighttime temperatures dipping to just above freezing. Our Webasto heater worked GREAT! We decided to use it in “continuous mode” which maintains a constant temperature like a typical house and this was a game changer. We stayed toasty warm and the Webasto worked perfectly during our entire stay.
Mingus Pass, AZ: On our scenic drive to Jerome, we saw all of this beautiful snow at the upper elevations. The roads were clear and dry the entire way. 
Mingus Pass, AZ: We drove the scenic drive on Highway 89A between Prescott to Jerome. A lovely drive on twisty turny mountain roads. 
Jerome, AZ: The Douglas Mansion was built in 1916 for the wealthy Douglas mining family and it even had a marble bathroom and a central vacuum system. It remains the largest adobe building in Arizona. 
Jerome, AZ: The Jerome State Historic Park (free with AZ State Parks pass) included a visit to the Douglas Mansion which is now a museum dedicated to the mining history of this area. 
Jerome, AZ: Photo of the mining/ghost town of Jerome, AZ (population ~500 people). This is funky and quirky town which leans in to its mining history and “ghost town” vibes. There are lots of artists and small businesses/boutiques in town. We particularly liked Nellie Bly Kaleidoscopes which is the world’s largest gallery of kaleidoscopes. 
Cottonwood, AZ: Sometimes the best food comes from the most unassuming places. This vegan cafe in a strip mall had very tasty and healthy food and all of it was made from scratch in-house. 
Tuzigoot National Monument: Tuzigoot is Apache for “crooked water” and this was the view from the visitors center looking out towards the Verde River. The sky was gorgeous blue with puffy clouds, the sun was shining and there were still yellow autumn leaves glistening on the trees. The Verde Valley is gorgeous! 
Tuzigoot National Monument: This National Monument showcases the ruins built between 1000-1400 by the Ancestral Puebloans. The weather was perfect! 
Tuzigoot National Monument: The Ancestral Puebloans knew where to build their structures with the most gorgeous views. 
Tuzigoot National Monument: This structure included 110 rooms and was 2 and 3 stories tall. What we found interesting was the building techniques were completely different from those used by the Ancestral Puebloans during the same time period just a few hundred miles away in Mesa Verde National Park (CO). #usewhatyougot 
Tuzigoot National Monument: This was a great time of year to visit as the weather was cool and sunny and there were no other people around. #retirement 
Tuzigoot National Monument: The mortar is made from mud so it needs continual maintenance. 
Clarksdale: The Arizona Copper Art Museum was part history museum and part art museum. A fascinating museum where Tracey learned about how and where copper was/is mined, how it is purified and then she saw the many different uses of copper. This photo showcases ammunition casings made from copper. It was hard to believe that these would be so intricately decorated. 
Clarksdale: The Arizona Copper Art Museum is appropriately located as this area was once a booming mining (mostly copper) town. 
Clarksdale: The Arizona Copper Art Museum had a kitchenware room which Tracey especially liked. 
Clarksdale: Several large copper distillation stills at the Arizona Copper Art Museum. A lovely museum worth the $11 entrance fee. 
Clarksdale: The Arizona Copper Art Museum was housed in the former high school building which was interesting in and of itself. 
Cottonwood, AZ: We took an evening stroll in Dead Horse Ranch State Park and saw this bald eagle. This is first one we have ever seen in Arizona before. We have seen them in Washington, Canada and Alaska before, but never in Arizona! 
Cottonwood, AZ: Tracey spotted this large bird in the distance while walking in Dead Horse Ranch State Park. As we approached we discovered it was a beautiful bald eagle. They are huge! 
Cottonwood, AZ: Dead Horse Ranch State Park is a gorgeous place and the weather continued to be perfect. 
Cottonwood, AZ: This is Tracey’s favorite photo from our trip which she took using her phone in Dead Horse Ranch State Park. #goldenhour
Jerome, Clarksdale and Cottonwood, AZ: We drove the lovely scenic drive on Highway 89A from Prescott to Jerome. A lovely mountain drive with spectacular views most of the way. Our day in this area was spent visiting the Jerome State Historical Park which included visiting the Douglas Mansion (and watching a very informative 30 minute movie about the area and its mining history), walking around historical downtown Jerome including visiting several shops and the library (the library was nothing to write home about), eating a yummy lunch at a vegan cafe in Cottonwood, visiting and walking on several trails in Tuzigoot National Monument, going to the Arizona Copper Art Museum in Clarksdale and taking an evening stroll through the stunning Dead Horse Ranch State Park. It was a jammed packed day where we got in all our steps (and Tony even slipped in a bike ride) while also learning about the local history, especially about copper mining which this area is known for. The weather could not have been more perfect with temperatures in the lows 60s and sunny skies.
Apache Junction, AZ: Our trip concluded with a stop at the Lost Dutchman State Park for a bit of exercise with Tracey walking 3 miles on a desert trail and Tony doing loops around the roads within the park on his bike. We were quite impressed with this park as it had gorgeous views of the Superstition Mountains and the surrounding Tonto National Forest. This state park was named after the fabled lost gold mine located somewhere in the Superstition Mountains which remains unfound to this day. Our travels in both directions were completely uneventful and we even avoided traffic delays and slowdowns in Phoenix, an uncommon occurrence for us.
Up Next: Our December van trip will be focused on a guided hike of the grounds followed by a house tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West located in Scottsdale, AZ. We are both really looking forward to this trip!
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Nice jaunt from Tucson. It is a great time to go with folks at home during this time. Loved the photos and the tour of the copper museum. I never knew it was there. Hope you two have a wonderful Thanksgiving. You give thanksgiving to others as you share your ventures with your followers. Blessings.
Thanks for all your lovely comments on my posts. It really means a lot to me that you follow our journey. Happy Thanksgiving!