Unlike other company towns of the period that grew haphazardly, Clarkdale was designed and built from a unified master plan. The main town site was located on a ridge overlooking the industrial smelter complex and was developed with residential homes, including upper and lower-income housing, a commercial area, and administrative center, schools, recreational and cultural facilities, and parks. They intended to include all the parts typically found in a small town within a comprehensive planned design.  Today, the original town site of Clarkdale is recognized as an Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Clarkdale remains a model of good urban planning today. The estimated population is 5,900.  The original rail line that

served the smelter is now host to a scenic excursion train, the Verde Canyon Railroad, which allows travelers a four-hour round trip to view the protected ecosystem of the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area and Verde River firsthand.   In addition to the excursion branch, the Arizona Central Railroad (the parent company of the Verde Canyon Railroad) ships materials by rail to Salt River Materials Group, a local cement manufacturer. 

Clarkdale’s Historic Business District boasts many treasured historic assets, and is the center of Clarkdale’s government, cultural, and historic core. The Clarkdale Fire District is located adjacent to Historic Business District. The Town and the business owners in the downtown area have invested heavily to keep the town core thriving. Approximately $1.5 million in streetscape improvements in the Historic Business District were completed in March, 2005.  The Historic Business District provides a little of everything: Two restaurants, a deli, taverns, coffee house, service station, light manufacturing, a laundromat, and internet based businesses as well as  The Center for Clarkdale History Museum and the Clarkdale Chamber of Commerce information center.  The Verde Valley Theatre performs community theatre in the Clark Memorial Clubhouse.  Free concerts are offered in the almost two-acre Clarkdale Park from May through October.

Beyond the original town site, the Clarkdale Fire District encompasses approximately 13 square miles in the Verde Valley.  Clarkdale is home to the Yavapai College Verde Campus, the Northern Arizona Regional Skill Center, the Small Business Development Center and the Academic Resource Center. 

The Verde River bisects the north portion of the town at a low elevation of around 3,300 feet. The west side of the town boundary is located along the foothills of Mingus Mountain in the Black Hills Range at a high elevation of approximately 4,600 feet above sea level.  On the northeast border of Clarkdale, the National Park service operates the 42-acre Tuzigoot National Monument, an 800 year old Sinagua pueblo, which is surrounded by hiking trails and hosts a complete museum.  Tavasci Marsh borders Tuzigoot National Monument and has been designated as an Important Birding Area by the North American Audubon Society. Arizona State Parks also manages portions of the Verde River Greenway along the Verde River in Clarkdale. 

The Town is surrounded by lands of the Prescott National Forest to the west and lands of the Coconino National Forest to the east.  In addition, trust lands of the Yavapai-Apache Nation are located within the town boundary.