World's Tallest Kachina Doll

Carefree, Arizona

A few miles to the northeast of the World's Largest Sundial, in the residential community of Tonto Hills, stands a 39-foot-tall Kachina doll, unquestionably the world's largest. We think.

There are other big Kachina dolls spread around the southwest. It's a familiar bit of pseudo-Native American signage for motels, drive-ins and trading posts. This one stands in a circular rock garden facing south.

We ponder the surrounding spiny flora, the dry heated breeze, the almost solitude of the giant Kachina. There's not much else to do here; an adjacent vacant art studio is reportedly up for sale.

We head back down the way we came, past the Sundial, on our way to eat giant steaks and have our ties cut in half and tacked to the ceiling at the Pinnacle Peak Patio in Scottsdale.