Cottonwood is in Northern Arizona. It is in Yavapai County. The town is located on Interstate 17 at exit 262, north of Phoenix and south of Flagstaff. State Route 69 begins at Interstate 17 and from here the route takes you into Prescott just 34 miles to the northwest.

Cottonwood is a good place to take a break when traveling along Interstate 17. The town sits at an elevation of 2,825 feet. The southwestern climate has a winter low temperature of 40 degrees and a summer high temperature of 103 degrees. 

The most popular place to visit in Cottonwood is Arcosanti. Arcosanti or “Urban Laboratory” is a community developed by Paolo Soleri. Soleri is an Italian architect, who has worked on the project for over 30 years. The futuristic self-sufficient community offers a tour that gives visitors an inside look at this amazing structure and way of life. There is a gift shop and other shops available for visitors.
There are a few outdoor activities near town. The 34-mile drive to Prescott from Cottonwood is one of the quickest ways to get to Prescott from Phoenix. It is also a beautiful drive. The road takes you up to the pines and the cool air. In 2000, the Agua Fria National Monument was established. The Agua Fria National Monument is 71,100 acres of federal land that stretches between the towns of Black Canyon City and Cortez Junction and includes both Perry Mesa and Black Mesa. This piece of land includes at least four major late prehistoric settlements and as many as 450 prehistoric sites. The monument protects these sites along with the wildlife and vegetation in the area
In 1883, John Henry Cordes, a native German, his Wife "Lizzie", also a german immigrant he met in New York and fell in love with, and year-old sn Charles moved to Antelope Station, where for $769.43 he purchased a small adobe stage sttop along the route of the California and Arizona Stage Company. When Cordes applied for a post officed as Antelope Station, he was turned down because of possible confusion with another Antelope Station (later called Stanton), so he chose his family name and served as the first postmaster.
The Cordes stage stop soon took on other functions. When mines opened in the area, the outpost soon became a supply depot and bank for the miners.
The Cordes post office closed in 1944, but the town lived on until the 1950s, when it was bypassed by the Black Canyon Freeway. A new stopping place, Cottonwood was established.
Stills standing at the original town site is a gas station that closed in 1973, the family home and a barn constructed in 1912. The Cordes family continues to live at the site.

If you appreciate innovative architecture, don't miss the Cottonwood exit (Exit 262) off I-17. Here you'll find Arcosanti  Italian architect Paolo Soleri's vision of the future--a "city" that merges architecture and ecology. Soleri, who came to Arizona to study with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, envisions a compact, energy-efficient city that disturbs the natural landscape as little as possible--and that's just what's rising out of the desert here at Arcosanti. The organic design built of cast concrete will fascinate both students of architecture and those with only a passing interest in the discipline. Arcosanti has been built primarily with the help of students and volunteers who live here for various lengths of time. To help finance the construction, Soleri designs and sells wind bells cast in bronze or made of ceramic. These distinctive bells are available at the gift shop.