Parks 34, 35, 36: Petrified Forest National Park, Sunset Crater Volcano & Wupatki National Monument in Arizona

The Famous Wigwam Hotel on Rte. 66

8/15/13. We had great luck this morning that when we stopped to get some fruit at the supermarket, we were right across the street from the Wigwam Motel on Route 66 that was the inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel in Cars. What a riot!! After enjoying this local color, we headed off to the Petrified Forest National Park. We entered from the south and stopped first at the Rainbow Forest Museum. After getting our precious park stamps, we watched the park film which gave a good overview of the geological processes that created petrified wood and the geological changes from the Triassic period until now. There is a trail right from this museum that gives a fabulous, up close view of the petrified logs and beautiful vistas.

We got a map that showed the different trails available and headed north through the park. We stopped at the Crystal Forest area which has a concentration of petrified wood that had been particularly filled with crystals.

Petrified wood on the trail by the Rainbow Forest Museum

The next stop was Puerco Pueblo that had the remains of a 100 room village occupied by the ancestral Puebloan people between AD 1250 and 1400. This area also had a petroglyph carved on a rock in such a way that the shadow on the solstice reached the tip of the drawing. I was surprised at how much this was like Stonehenge in England or New Grange in Ireland and how people so far from each other, with no contact (that we know of) could have designed similar astrological monuments.

Puerco Pueblo Ruins

Petroglyph that marks the solstice shadow

We continued north through a variety of very different vistas, some mundane and some incredibly interesting. Eventually we made it to the Painted Desert Rim which can be fully seen as you drive over a hill and is breathtaking. Even having seen this as a teenager did not dim the splendor and amazement. We stopped at the Painted Desert Inn and got to imagine what it was like to stay there in its heyday. We left the park, fully saturated after spending about 3 hours driving and on the trails.

Painted Desert Rim

Painted Desert Panorama

Coconino  National Forest

We headed back on I 40 and stopped at the Old Courthouse in Holbrook which is a local museum and has some unique National Passport Stamps. Then we worked our way west to Flagstaff and then north to the Sunset Crater National Monument which is also entwined in the Coconino National Forest. It felt so good to be around trees again and it made us realize how much we are “tree people” – it just felt more natural and comforting.

Lava tubes at Sunset Crater Vocano

Sunset Crater Volcano Cinders on side of mountain

After stopping at the visitor’s center, we went to the Lava Flow Trail which was surreal. I’ve never seen terrain like this and it’s hard to describe. Photos will have to do!

We continued through this park up in the mountains (I think the highest elevation was 8,000 feet) and made our way to Wupatki National Monument – about a half an hour drive through the mountains. There are many different areas to visit at Wupatki that encompass ruins from native peoples in the past. It is possible to walk among the remains of the buildings, imagining what life was like high up on the Colorado plateau. We stopped at four different sites, and we were worried about lightning in the distance be we never got the rain. These ruins are spectacular because in the US we have so little history to observe which is this old. We learned a great deal about what historians and scientists think were the lifestyles of these people, but much is still unknown.

Pueblo Ruins in Waputki

We left the park a bit overwhelmed by all we have learned and seen. It was a full day and our heads felt like they’d explode from all we had taken in. We drove south to Sedona where we are staying for the next two nights. The mountain driving along the windy roads down to Sedona were nerve wracking but beautiful. More adventures tomorrow…..

Driving down Rte 89a to Sedona