Prescott, Arizona, is widely known as Everybody's Hometown. The nineteenth-century flavor of the band gazebo, located in elm-shaded Courthouse Square, fits right into that picture. A polished concrete dance area facing the courthouse steps makes this the perfect setting for summer music festivals and concerts, as well as local dance groups from swing to square dance to cloggers. Through the summer, classic movies play on an outdoor screen beginning at dusk. No wonder Prescott draws so many families to visit — and they decide to stay on!

The heart of Prescott's downtown Historic District is nothing like L.A.: everybody walks. If you live here, you can walk to antique shops, art galleries, boutiques, ice cream stores, restaurants, City Hall, the library, the dentist —and lots of people drive downtown just to take a stroll, to walk the dog, or to get in some power-walking laps in a safe, green, shady location. Or, if you want a different kind of trip around Courthouse Square, try a ride in a carriage pulled by a Belgian draft horse!

Fabled Whiskey Row, the scene of much Old West historical color, has settled down considerably. A favorite destination for locals as well as tourists, the Row now hosts art galleries, restaurants, boutiques, and it’s minutes from your door — you’ll walk there if you live in Prescott’s Historic District. Whiskey Row makes Prescott a destination for shoppers from all over the world. The Palace is now one of the town’s best restaurants, and Arizona's hottest bands keep patrons dancing at Whiskey Row's celebrated watering-holes.

Prescott's Central Arizona Highlands location, where the mountains meet the desert, gives it a beautiful dry climate. It's true: water is precious in Arizona. But Prescott is blessed with some beautiful lakes, making for great outings, hiking, and boating. Bald eagles winter at Goldwater Lake, nestled in the cool pines about 4 miles up Senator Highway; it has a picnic area, fishing, and canoeing.

Four miles north of downtown Prescott, this beautiful lake reflects the brilliant Arizona skies, framed by the dramatic boulders and rock formations of the Granite Dells. Watson Lake presents some of the prettiest Prescott real estate options. The City of Prescott maintains a park on one section of the lake shore, with overnight camping (including showers) in the summer months. There are also restrooms, barbeque pits, picnic tables, playground equipment hiking—and a boat launch, with fishing available.

Just minutes from your home in Prescott or the Tri-City area, you can get away from it all for fishing, camping, or just thinking. At Lynx Lake, only 8 miles from the center of Prescott, there’s trout fishing and family camping, boating, biking and horseback riding, bird watching and archaeological sites. Open all year, the 55-acre Lynx Lake nestles in the cool pines, surrounded by Ponderosa forest and miles of hiking trails.

The area around Prescott includes the smaller and more rural communities of Chino Valley and Paulden. Sharing Prescott's mild four season climate and 300-plus days of sunshine a year, they are blessed with clean air, good soil, and abundant pure water requiring no treatment. Local wells provide most of the drinking water, and farm and ranch properties surround the settled central town areas. Affordable living is enhanced by local facilities—parks, ball fields, free tennis courts, community centers—and the libraries are linked in an online database with others in the county.

Many Prescott real estate properties border the Prescott National Forest, and some areas of the forest are much as they were 125 years ago, when American settlers arrived. At the elevation of the city of Prescott, pinon pine and juniper form the primary vegetation, with Ponderosa pine dominating the higher elevations. Within the Prescott National Forest there are nearly a million and a quarter acres just brimming with outdoor recreation opportunities. With its great hiking trails, lakes, and wildlife, the Forest is one of the wonderful natural resources of central northern Arizona.

"The Thumb" is the local landmark, visible from all over Prescott, and many Prescott homes frame awesome views of the Butte. This ancient basalt formation lies within Prescott city limits, offering a steep but rewarding hike to a city overlook, with a sweeping view all the way to Flagstaff. Some of the choicest Prescott real estate is found among the trees, boulders, and mountain creeks around Thumb Butte.

The Bradshaw Mountains, extending south from Prescott, offer great hiking, with trails, creeks, and lakes, as well as motorsport trails and camping. These mountains have played a major role in local history. One of the most highly mineralized mountain ranges in the world, the Bradshaws drew early adventurers to rich gold and silver strikes. By the end of 1864, over 1,600 prospectors were camped there. Easy day trips from Prescott can take you to ghost towns and abandoned mines, or to peaceful sites in the Ponderosas.

The Prescott Fine Arts Association, headquartered in the historic Sacred Heart Church building, fosters expression of creativity and participation in the arts in the greater Prescott community. The art gallery presents shows—everything from sculpture to watercolors, from pottery to photography—and an annual Holiday Gift Show and Sale. PFAA sponsors concerts, as well as an annual program of local youth musicians, and maintains a Scholarship Fund for students through age 23 in art, drama, instrumental strings, instrumental winds and percussion, musical theater, piano, and voice.

Scarcely an hour from Prescott, Sedona is an art mecca that has inspired generations of artists and photographers. The photogenic red sandstone buttes, rock towers, and canyons draw thousands of visitors every year, as do the bountiful galleries and unique shops. Enhancing its reputation as an arts destination, Sedona hosts an annual jazz festival, along with a full performing arts calendar featuring national as well as local artists. Resorts and other lodging options dot the dramatic landscape, and narrated tours by jeep, horseback, and hot-air balloon compete with award-winning golf courses for your recreational attention.

Jerome was the third-largest city in Arizona during mining's heyday, when it was known as a billion-dollar copper camp. Jerome closed its mines after World War II; by the 1950s it was attracting tourists as a ghost town. But the steeply seated town reinvented itself as an artist colony with 360-degree views of the lush Verde Valley and the red-rock formations up toward Sedona. Galleries and great restaurants abound, but mining remnants and memories can still be found at Jerome State Historic Park, in the Douglas Mansion.

In Prescott's small-town, relaxed atmosphere, sport and recreational possibilities are abundant. Local public parks, as well as planned communities, feature hiking trails, baseball/softball diamonds, tennis courts, volleyball courts. Given the Prescott area’s great climate, it’s no surprise to find so many outstanding, professional quality golf courses here. Winter snow remains on the ground less than 10 days a year, and the sun shines an average of 300 days annually; the high elevation and mountain breezes keep our athletes comfortable all summer. And stunning rock formations provide great climbing.