17 Places In Arizona That Will Make You Swear You're On Another Planet
By Monica Spencer|Published November 21, 2015
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Monica Spencer
Author
Monica is a Diné (Navajo) freelance writer and photographer based in the Southwest. Born in Gallup and raised in Phoenix, she is Tódich'ii'nii (Bitter Water People) and Tsi'naajinii (Black Streak Wood People). Monica is a staff writer for Only In Your State, photo editor for The Mesa Legend, and previously a staff writer for The Navajo Post. You can reach her at monica.d.spencer@gmail.com.
My mom is a major science fiction fan so I spent a good chunk of my childhood watching all kinds of movies and television shows. We watched just about everything in the Star Trek canon, Star Wars, nearly every alien movie that came out in the ’80s and early ’90s, “The X-Files,” and lots of anime. I never became a huge science fiction fan (although, I will admit to dressing up for Harry Potter movies and attending the midnight book releases) but I think the predicaments often found in these films informed a lot of my childhood thinking.
One of the things that always fascinated me with these films and shows were the foreign landscapes you would often see—or, in some cases, not so foreign. Living and traveling Arizona showed me that these so-called alien places looked an awful lot like home. In fact, look at just about any science fiction production and you’ll find inspiration from actual places if not the places themselves. Since so much of Arizona’s landscapes can appear strange, foreign, and fascinating to just about anyone outside of our state, let’s take a closer look at them with new eyes.
1. Let's start off with this view of the Painted Desert located within the Petrified Forest National Park, which is beautiful and unique.
2. Here is another look at the Painted Desert in Petrified Forest. If it were on another planet, what kinds of creatures would you imagine to roam these lands?
4. I bet that if it weren't for the small plants, a lot people would probably assume this place was on Mars. In reality, this photo was taken near Marble Canyon.
6. The colors, textures, and absence of life in the photo make it seem like a strange alien land. But we Zonies know this is the Wave in northern Arizona.
15. You can also enter any of our caves for an other worldly experience. The one pictured here is Cave of the Bells, located in Sawmill Canyon along the Santa Rita Mountains.
Am I the only one who thinks an alien would peek around the corner? I'm not sure I quite have Ripley's audacity to take on an alien twice my size.
Are there any areas in our home state that have always seemed to be from another planet to you? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Facebook page!
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