50 Amazing Geography Facts About Arizona

Many people probably think of Arizona as a state of desert lands, and while that isn’t exactly false, it is a gross oversimplification. As the 6th largest state by area, Arizona has plenty of geographical variety, from snow covered peaks and abundant forests to desert lands and deep canyons. Across The Globe gathered 50 amazing geography facts about Arizona that seem fake, but aren’t.

10 Fascinating Facts About Arizona

1. Arizona’s Underwater Past: Arizona’s deserts were once underwater, with red rock formations holding fossils of sharks, trilobites, and ancient snails, revealing a prehistoric oceanic history.
2. Chocolate Waterfall: Grand Falls, taller than Niagara at 185 feet, flows after heavy rains with orange-brown sediment, looking like a river of chocolate milk.
3. London Bridge Lives On: The original 1830s London Bridge was bought, dismantled, shipped from England, and reassembled in Lake Havasu City over a canal in the 1960s.
4. Montezuma Well: A 368-foot-wide limestone sinkhole filled with carbonated, arsenic-laden water and thousands of leeches, once thought bottomless, with a boiling sandy floor 65 feet down.
5. UFO Lights: On March 13, 1997, thousands, including Arizona’s governor, saw a mysterious V-shaped formation of lights over Phoenix. Known as the Phoenix Lights, they remain unexplained.
6. Closed Ecosystem: Biosphere 2 near Oracle is a 3.14-acre sealed greenhouse recreating Earth’s ecosystems (rainforest, coral reef, savanna, desert), the largest closed ecological system ever built.
7. Volcanic Flow Reversal: Near Grand Falls, volcanic eruptions forced the Little Colorado River to flow backward and uphill, with massive lava flows damming even the Colorado River.
8. Ghost Town Nothing: Nothing, Arizona, founded in 1977, became a true ghost town by 2005, with a sign proudly declaring it the “home of nothing.”
9. No Camel Killing: In the 1800s, Arizona protected camels used in a failed U.S. Army desert transport experiment, making it illegal to harm them.
10. Petrified Rainforest: Petrified Forest National Park holds the world’s largest collection of 225-million-year-old fossilized trees, turned into colorful quartz resembling stained glass.

• Categories:  
• Arizona
• Map