Beachside escapes, mountain mining towns and artist colonies in the desert ... the small town landscape of the American Southwest — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and West Texas — is as diverse as the physical one.

USA TODAY set out to find the best small towns with populations under 10,000 (according to the latest census data) in the Southwest. To do so, we asked a panel of local experts to nominate their favorites, and for the past four weeks, our readers have been voting daily to choose a winner. The results are in!

The top 10 winners in the category Best Southwestern Small Town are as follows: