To even the casual observer, these adjoining towns quickly reveal their distinctiveness from one another.

While Cave Creek enjoys a reputation for celebrating and preserving its illustrious past, the growing prominence of Carefree as a hub of contemporary southwestern art and culture is equally deserved.

Over time, the communities have become living complements to one another-each with its own lore and legend, each with a singular stake in the vibrant historical and cultural record that marks the region, as distinct as the two communities might be, however, they also share a great deal in common.

Visitors are often struck by the natural grandeur and sheer physical beauty of their setting.

En-route to the towns, the stark, open-to-sky country common to the lower desert regions is replaced by rolling hills, deeply etched desert washes and craggy mountain vistas that characterize the "Desert Foothills", as the area surrounding Carefree and Cave Creek is known.

Cave Creek was named for the small stream that rises in the hills to the northeast and flows southwesterly for 25 miles before reaching Paradise Valley. The stream, in turn, was named from a high, overhanging bluff along its west bank that forms a wide, open cavern about two miles north of the present day Cave Creek.

People have taken shelter there for centuries. A bloody skirmish occurred within the cave between Apache Indians and U.S. Troops in 1873.

Ancient Hohokam Indians stayed in the area from around 800 A.D. until 1400 A.D. Many reminders of their living in the area still remain. Stone huts, pit houses, terraced field and irrigation ditches were left behind.

There are also many petroglyphs that were carved by the Indians. The Cave Creek area has a rich archeological foundation. Dozens of prehistoric sites have been discovered. However, many more remain undisturbed.

The Sonoran Desert-the broad southwestern plain on which the Cave Creek and Carefree are set-is typically arid, but due to the gradual, 2,500-foot elevation of the towns, visitors find themselves in the midst of a surprisingly lush landscape: great towering stands of saguaro cactus, brilliant green palo verde, the light luminescence of teddy bear cholla, sturdy tangles of mesquite and ironwood trees, spidery ocotillo, and a host of other flora dot the roadsides and surrounding hills.

With natural phenomena such as these in and around Carefree and Cave Creek, it's easy to understand how the great power of the desert can utterly captivate visitors.  By day, the brilliant, azure-blue skies set in sharp relief the dusky tans and ochres that color the land.