Head to the mile-high city of Prescott to explore Arizona’s Indigenous and pioneer history.
The Yavapai people have lived in central and western Arizona for centuries. The Yavapai-Prescott community is smaller than most others in the state, but the tribal enterprises are far-reaching. The Yavapai people are know for their exceptional baskets. The official flag of the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe includes a unique basket design. While visiting the area, a scenic drive over Mingus Mountain leads to ancestral pueblo structures built by Southern Sinagua in neighboring Verde Valley. Visit Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma Castle National Monument to learn more about the ancestors of the Yavapai people.
Visit Tribal Enterprises
Visitors have two choices for casino gaming in Prescott. Bucky’s Casino is perched above the city and features 500 slot machines plus table games including roulette, craps, poker and blackjack. Yavapai Casino is a slot room at the bottom of the hill with nearly 200 machines. Prescott Resort sits on the hilltop next to Bucky’s offering awe inspiring views and is the largest overnight lodging option in town. The tribal community also operates one of Prescott’s largest destination shopping centers. Frontier Village Center has an REI and a Sportsman’s Warehouse for visitors to gear up before exploring the area’s hiking trails and waterways.
Take a Museum Crawl
Prescott’s museums give visitors an honest account of Arizona’s origin story. At Sharlot Hall Museum, the permanent exhibit “The Baskets Keep Talking” tells the stories of the Yavapai-Prescott Tribal Community. In July, the museum hosts the Prescott Indian Art Market, where the work of nearly 100 tribal artists, dancers, cooks and historians is on display. At the Museum of Indigenous People, visitors are immersed in the culture, art and artifacts from tribal communities throughout the Southwest. Fort Whipple Museum is located near the tribal community and presents the military history of the area. Fort Whipple was a military post during the Indian Wars of the late 1800s when Prescott was the territorial capital of Arizona. The Phippen Museum presents more romanticized pioneer stories through artworks depicting the American West.
Visit Prescott
The Yavapai-Prescott Tribal Community is surrounded by major visitor attractions. Head to downtown Prescott to enjoy the Wild West vibe of courthouse square and the captured-in-time storefronts along Whiskey Row. Natural attractions also abound in this part of the state. Prescott’s top outdoor recreation sites include Watson Lake with its jumbled granite boulders and Goldwater Lake with pristine hiking trails in an old-growth pine forest.
