Page 22 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Southwest USA & National Parks

INTRODUCING THE SOUTHWEST  21

A PORTRAIT OF

THE SOUTHWEST

Distinguished by its dramatic landscape, the Southwest is a land of twisting
canyons, cactus-studded desert, and rugged mountains. For more than
15,000 years, the region was inhabited exclusively by Native Americans, but
by the 20th century Anglo-American traditions had mingled with those of the
Hispanic and Native populations to create the Southwest’s multicultural heritage.

America’s Southwest includes the of around 130,000 sq miles
states of Arizona and New Mexico, (336,700 sq km). The plateau was
southwestern Colorado and southern created by the same geological
Utah, and the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. upheavals that formed the Rocky
Perceptions of this region are influenced Mountains. Subsequent erosion by
by the landscape: the red sandstone wind, water, and sand molded both
mesas of Monument Valley, the tall hard and soft rock to form the plateau’s
saguaro cacti in Arizona’s Sonoran canyons, mesas, and mountains.
Desert, the staggering scale of Grand Many of these natural wonders are now
Canyon, and the adobe architecture of protected by national parks, such as the
New Mexico. At the heart of the region Grand Canyon and Zion. The region’s
is its defining geological feature – the underground attractions are no less
Colorado Plateau – a rock tableland beautiful, with the cave formations of
rising more than 12,000 ft (3,660 m) Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and the
above sea level and covering a vast area Kartchner Caverns in southern Arizona.

Cacti and wildflowers in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona
Navajo woman spinning wool in Monument Valley

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