Halfway through the 2008 releases comes the last of the continental states to join the Union:  Arizona.  As the 48th state, Arizona's quarter is the 48th quarter in the United States Mint's 50 State Quarters^® Program.  Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912.

The images on the Arizona quarter feature the Grand Canyon and a Saguaro cactus.  A banner reading "Grand Canyon State" separates the Canyon from the cactus, which does not grow in the Grand Canyon.  But the flower of the cactus is the state flower of Arizona.

The Grand Canyon joined the National Park system in 1919 and is visited by more than four million tourists a year.  Covering more than 1 million acres in northwestern Arizona, the Canyon was sculpted by the mighty Colorado River.  At its deepest point, the Canyon is 6,000 feet deep, and it gets as wide as 18 miles across, making it one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  Several rare and threatened plant and animal species live there.