Travel Log: Phoenix

In the Navajo language, it is called "Hoozdo" -- which means, "the place is hot." Not a bad way to describe Phoenix, known widely as the Valley of the Sun.

Native Americans settled and created what was called the Hohokam civilization near 700 A.D., and their ability to urbanize the area would help form the city more than 1,000 years later. The Hohokam civilization disappeared from what most believe drought and flooding.

Canals that were once formed by the Hohokam residents were re-created to give Phoenix its irrigation system for farming and city dwelling in the mid-1800s. It was 1868 when the county's board of supervisors recognized the city with the name Phoenix. After several suggestions, the board settled on Phoenix because it meant the city was born from a former civilization.

DID YOU KNOW
On average, Phoenix has just 69 days of cloudy or rainy weather per year. Arizona's capital averages 211 days of sunshine and 85 days of partly cloudy weather.

WHAT THE CITY OFFERS
Rawhide Western Town -- Saturday begins a three-weekend run of chuck wagon cookouts, complete with live music and cowboy entertainment. Guests will be provided with a hat and bandana to get in 1880s decor. Rawhide is literally an Old West town set just south of Phoenix and includes a steakhouse, saloon and shops. Visitors can learn the forms of transportation by hitching a ride on the train, stagecoach or a burro. But what really takes guests back to the primitive times of urbanization are the re-enactments at Rawhide's two theaters and a real saloon card shark.
• For more information, click here

Goldfield Ghost Town -- Touted as the only authentic ghost town in the valley, it was 1892 when gold was first struck in this area. The town became rich, with approximately 4,000 people living there. But gold dropped off after the turn of the century and the area dried. Now the town sits as a tourist attraction and the gateway to the Superstition Mountains. The town offers shopping, carriage rides and horseback riding, while Jeep tours take visitors into the Superstition Mountains, where the legend of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine lives on.
• For more information, click here

Camelback Mountain -- Love the outdoors? Born to hike? Camelback Mountain is the only place to be this weekend in Phoenix. But make no mistake, the valley's most prominent landmark isn't for beginning hikers seeking to reach Phoenix's peak. There are, however, alternate trails for experienced and new hikers to enjoy one of the desert's premier climbs.
• For more information, click here

Heard Museum -- Internationally recognized, the Heard Museum is a textbook of heritage and arts of Native Americans. The ongoing exhibition is "Native People in the Southwest," a $7.6 million, 21,000-square-foot exhibition that includes jewelry, pottery, glass art and Hopi katsina dolls, among other pieces. Three other exhibitions are on display at one of the 30 Phoenix Points of Pride.
• For more information, click here

MUST-VISIT RESTAURANT
T-Bone Steak House -- With a panoramic view of Phoenix and what many critics consider the best steak in the city, T-Bone Steak House has been a popular watering hole of cowpokes for years. And if the traveler forgets his horse, no worries. He can take a one-hour horseback ride to the restaurant while enjoying the nature trails that overlook the city.
• For more information, click here

WEATHER FORECAST
Saturday has a chance to be windy, but all weekend should be sunny with highs in the lower 80s. Click here for the complete forecast.

BOOK YOUR TRAVEL
Let NASCAR.COM help book your travel. | Click here