Today I finally got to visit a National Park that I have skipped over many times in the past 3 years. While I have been in Arizona numerous times, I just hadn’t traveled along I-40 east of Flagstaff, so this time around I made sure of it. I entered to...
Meteor Crater is the result of a collision between a piece of an asteroid traveling at 26,000 miles per hour and planet Earth approximately 50,000 years ago. A force greater than 20 million tons of TNT throwing more than 175 million tons of earth and rock out. Today, Meteor Crater...
Walnut Canyon National Monument is located about 10 miles southeast of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, near Interstate 40. The canyon rim elevation is 6,690 ft; the canyon’s floor is 350 ft lower. A 0.9 mi long loop trail descends 185 ft into the canyon passing 25 cliff dwelling rooms constructed by the Sinagua, a pre-Columbian cultural...
Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. In 2011, the Observatory was named one of “The World’s 100 Most Important Places” by TIME....
Red Rock State Park is a state park in Arizona featuring a red sandstone canyon outside the city of Sedona. The main mission of this day-use park is the preservation of the riparian habitat along Oak Creek, but there are 5 miles of hiking trails to explore. On a personal...
Located along a steep hillside full of hairpin turns and shocking drop-offs, this old ghost town has life in it yet. Once called the “Wickedest Town in the West,” Jerome was a budding city of brothels and saloons back at the turn of the century, when copper mining was king....
Southern Sinagua farmers began building this five-story, 20-room dwelling early in the 1100’s. It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley floor. They use to allow visitors to climb the ladders and roam about the castle, but that ended in the 60’s after years of people stealing...
Right off Interstate-17 (exit 256) is one of two entrances to Agua Fria National Monument. Badger Springs Rd is nothing more than a dirt road that brings you into the border of the monument about 1 mile. After that you are left with a trail that will bring you to...
Before pulling out of the Phoenix area I glanced at a map and saw Buckeye Hills Regional Park just south-west of the greater Phoenix area. The park, “slated for future development”, has only a few pit toilets, picnic tables and well graded gravel roads that will take you one to...
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Casa Grande means “big house” (even I knew this). Obviously it is a very old “stick and mud” house from the natives dating back 7500 years. It is 4 stories tall and only a small part of what is known of a larger community of...
