Wow! What great slice of history, a museum full of spectacular specimens, A town full of mystery, a…read more1900 ft mine shift that you can walk over (it's covered with glass!), a spectacular mansion which serves as the state museum, and beautiful scenery including a view of the San Francisco peaks in Flagstaff and views of the red rocks of Sedona. We happened upon a fabulous history guide upon walking in. A 50+ year native called us to the front porch of the Douglas mansion (which sits upon some of the mine tunnels!) and delighted us with a passionate 30 minute jam packed history. Not sure if this is a daily event, but I know we were extremely lucky to hear this talk. I cannot wait to go back and learn more.

This was a fun place to try. I've been years ago, but decided to give her another try. It was so…read morebusy and decided to take a tour of the mansion. The little video they had was fun. Overall, I'm not sure if it was worth $26 for the entry fee.

What a wonderful experience we had here 'by accident'.. we were literally killing time until a…read moredinner reservation and stumbled into this place. It's perfect. Rustic, old fashioned, bordering on unsafe, and perfect as it should be. 100% get the satchel of dirt and take a lesson on panning for gold.. it seemed 'juvenile' for my wife & I but we TOTALLY enjoyed it and were laughing with the lady teaching us. And walked away with $2million in panned gold!!! (Jk )

We went here with my Son, his wife and 3 grandsons ages 6,8,10 who were visiting from California…read more We all loved it!!! We panned for gold, gemstones and cracked geodes. The old cars, trucks and buildings were a riot, and the farm animals were adorable! Such a fun way to spend family time together. Thank you for providing such a great family experience. I'm sure we'll be back! Julie Russell, John Schmidt Cottonwood, Az

I love this little museum shop. Hand sanitizer greets you at the door. This is especially important…read moresince this type of shop means touching small objects. Very friendly proprietor. Great variety of copper merchandise. Beautiful selection.

This is a unique find in little Jerome. As a history buff I found this quite fascinating because…read morethey have so many details covered on the town's varied history across a variety of subjects - seedy and not-so-seedy. It's only $2 per person to enter and they take all forms of money. My boyfriend and I saw it all in about 35-40 minutes (including me reading every minute detail and looking at just about every artifact haha). While the focus is on the area mines' histories, one cannot forget about the town history as they are both intertwined. The town flourished when the mines flourished and vice versa. I found it interesting on the bits about the "red light district history" too - a bit of a scandalous past but part of the past. Spend a little time/money here, shop/browse the jewelry for sale up front and you're golden for an hour or so.

Jerome Bible Art & Museum is exactly where you wouldn't expect. We found it to be an incredible…read morefind and absolutely loved browsing through all their sculptured art. Garrick and his artist wife Janie are Pacific Northwest transplants, who clearly had a calling to share their spiritual and artistic gifts. There is a somewhat life sized Roman Centurions (photo), a Lion from the Book of Daniel, a Cathedral reminiscent of the Basílicia i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona and much more. Our favorites however was Janie's small donkeys with cute big ears (photo), that carried Mary & Joseph to Bethlehem, or was it, Jesus on Palm Sunday? You decide! We loved, loved Garrick & Janie's offerings and would recommend it to you on your visit to Jerome. They are in the back of the New State Motor building, across Main Street from Grapes Restaurant. As I mentioned in my Tip, Garrick and Janie 's Shop and Museum is open Monday thru Saturday, from 10 am until 4:30 pm. He tells me that on Sundays they open later, whenever they can get here from church.

This free museum is very interesting. We stumbled upon it while searching for the restrooms…read more Definitely kept us all occupied while waiting for one another.

Our beautiful state has so much to offer. One of the best things you could do here learning the…read morehistory. The height of this dwarfed the eEmpire State building. I WOULD RECOMMEND

I highly recommend this very quick and free stop…read more It's a pane of glass that covers a mine shaft. 1,900 feet to be exact. You can stand on it and think about how long it would take you to hit the ground if you fell. I am terrible at math but there's some sort of formula there. There is some information regarding the mining history of this site as well as an infographic that compares the length of the mine shaft to famously tall buildings. Easy parking. Don't miss this weird opportunity to stand over an insanely long hole in the ground.

What a collection of kaleidoscopes!! Located on Main St in Jerome,…read more The building was a bordello in the past and later transitioned to a restaurant. They preserved some of the original details of the building. When we walked in the store clerk greeted us, and shared information about the store and the kaleidoscopes. It is named after Nellie Bly a journalist who traveled around the world in 72 day. The store is the largest kaleidoscope dealer in the world. The clerk pointed out some of her favorites and shared how best to experience the reflections and changing patterns. The intricacy and colors were indescribable. Attached to it is Around the World With Nellie Bly, a store with a variety of items of art and collectibles. You can spend as much time as you want looking into each kaleidoscope and learning about the pieces.

If you've ever wanted to experience a wholesome, legal trip without dropping acid or making…read morequestionable choices--Nelly Bly Kaleidoscope Shop is your moment. This place is ridiculously magical. It's like someone captured sunsets, opals, stained glass, and interdimensional portals and said, "Yes, put it in a tube and make it spin." I came in for a quick peek and promptly lost all concept of time. One second it's "I'll just look around," and the next you're in a trance whispering, "OH MY GOD" into a kaleidoscope like it's giving you life advice. The staff are the real MVPs: genuinely fun, friendly, and obsessed (in the best way) with what they do. They LOVE sharing their passion, showing you different designs, explaining how they're made, and basically turning your casual browsing into a full-blown kaleidoscope awakening. I did not know I needed so many kaleidoscopes. Turns out I needed... many. And then they casually mention they offer classes. CLASSES. I am now emotionally invested and fully prepared to fly back to Jerome just to take one, because apparently this is who I am now. 10/10. Go. Bring curiosity. Leave with joy (and potentially an unreasonable number of kaleidoscopes).

We stopped in Jerome and was not disappointed. It is a cute town in Arizona's Black Hills. It…read morepromotes being a ghost town, and is considered one of the most haunted places in Arizona. We were able to park on the street for free, but there is also areas to pay for parking. We spent a few hours walling the town, going in and out of shops, galleries and wineries. Many of the buildings had plaques stating what the building was in the past. A nice way to learn about the history of the town. The views of the Sedona's Red Rock , Verde Valley and the San Francisco Peaks were beautiful. Worth spending a few hours visiting.

Used to be a great place just like many have said but it's no longer the case. This place turned…read moreinto a money making machine with nothing left from a "ghost town" aspect. What kind of ghost town charges six dollars for parking and has parking enforcement ? There are renovations and constructions everywhere and someone's trying to sell you things in every corner. This is no longer Jerome I used to love.

Incredible store. Personally it's a must stop when in Jerome. Upstairs it showcases the old theater…read morewith interactive and fun facts about its hay day. Plenty to do and see!

This store and museum is a riot! So many interesting items to buy and or look at. Lots of old movie…read moreprops which make you laugh and reflect on movies of the past. They have really cute and unusual tee shirts too. When you go to Jerome I would highly recommend you stop here. It will make your day! Julie Russell Cottonwood, Az

This was my first visit to the Verde Valley archaeology center, and I was truly amazed! I was…read morehoping to see artifacts from the immediate vicinity at this location and was not disappointed! The center has been here for 15 years and exists primarily to display artifacts recovered from a single site in the area. This is extremely rare as most sites have been pillaged by pot hunters over the last 100+ years, and this site was privately owned and protected for many decades. I was honored to received what was basically a private tour of the facility by the executive director Monica Buckle. She took her time and provided much detail to give an excellent overview of this facility. Thank you so much Monica! The entire Verde Valley area is a much overlooked archaeology gem in the history of our country & this facility champions the learning and understanding of this unique place. If you're ever in the area, I strongly recommend a visit. Please note the visiting hours change for the summer season so be sure to research this first.

This spotless well appointed museum is user friendly and can be completed quickly under 1/2 hour if…read moreyou breezed through. We chose the guided free tour which lasted about an hour and was quite thorough. I really enjoyed the quality of items on display and learning about the artifacts. If one is lucky the libraries in Scottsdale have a free pass for 2 people to enter. We paid but it was worth the $5 entry fee each.

I'm not sure why the Yelp page states Arcosanti is closed. We were just there and is open and…read moreoperating. Clearly what the original architect had in mind many years ago never came to fruition as it really hasn't changed in years. Is appears to be a small artist community but we didn't see anything going on at the moment so couldn't tell if it id still active or they make everything south in Scottsdale at Cosanti. There is a gift shop where you can watch a brief video on the history and learn about their wind chime creations. Personally I've received many of the wind chimes over the last 20 years for housewarmings or Christmas gifts. Each is unique. The greeter in the gift shop was friendly and stated there is a tour available as well. We didn't have time for the tour but purchased a couple of small gifts. He suggested visiting the Scottsdale location as well which is called Cosanti. I had no idea it was located in Scott's well. Will check it out.

70s vision for communal living by architect Paolo Soleri, this is on the way from Phoenix to Sedona…read moreand worth a stop if you are into architecture and ecology, you'll see Soleri's unique "arcology" vision here which is a fusion of both. We signed up for the tour and yes the dirt road is rough leading to Arcosanti, our tour guide mentioned a future expansion in the living area but in order to keep building the road has to be paved, hopefully it's better in the future. The behind the scenes tour participants was twice as large as they normally have so at times it was hard to see and hear though our guide tried their best. We loved hearing about the different spaces and seeing what was hand made by volunteers though we enjoyed the more intimate feel of Cosanti more. The gift shop is one staircase above the cafe and it's where the tour meets. There is better bell selection at Cosanti If that's what you are shopping for but Arcosanti has more hand-made knick knacks by residents, there is also a nice selection of books about Soleri and Arcosanti. You can stay the night here and get a good view of the stars and a more intimate experience, we would do this next time. The architecture and vibe would make it worth it!