We are on our way to our final National Park on this journey, and never having been there, another one off our bucket list. While we were in Mesa, Deb and Mark Wiegenstein gifted us a beautiful National Parks Scratchable Adventure Map. Each park can be scratched off to help us keep track of the parks we have visited (and there have been many!). Can’t wait to get it hung in our office at home!
As we have described, we have had many long mountain climbs with Lucy and Desi, and had hoped for an easier drive to Holbrook. The first leg from Mesa is to Payson. Fortunately this is a very nice 4 lane divided highway, but at that point was the highest pass we had crossed yet at 5400′ – it was a bit of a struggle for sure. Lots of saguaro cactus and extremely scenic drive when I wasn’t clutching the door knob with my white knuckles. As usual, Bob was the driving master, and if he was ever nervous, he never let on to me – best husband ever!
So we get to Payson, and we sighed deeply thinking that the worst part of our trip and the rest was downhill. Did someone forget to let us know that the 2nd part of the trip to Holbrook was MUCH worse? Beautiful scenery and a dramatic change in landscape from cactus to forests, and driving through Apache and Navajo Reservations. Payson to Heber and then Holbrook was hell if you don’t mind me telling you! This was a real surprise – we had our elevation on our dash, and I kept staring at it in amazement – this pass took us up to almost 7700′ and was it ever a slow but beautiful go! Thankfully, this was a short journey today and we arrived at our campsite at noon – phew! Time to chill and start enjoying our happy hour a little earlier than normal.
Holbrook is an interesting little western town, mostly Native American, about 26 miles west of the Park headquarters along I-40 (former Route 66) and has a great petrified wood warehouse/shop where we picked up some really pretty petrified relics. The old and famous Route 66 crosses a part of the park and its location is shown in the pictures below. At one point in our trip we met a couple from Amsterdam who were driving the entire Route 66 journey from Chicago to L.A. Throughout our journey in that region, we were often parallel to the Route 66, and surprised to see what a good 2 lane road it is!
We journeyed into the park, which is flanked on the north by Navajo Nation. It was a little like being on the moon. At one time, some 200 millions of years ago, this was a vast tropical forest that was situated almost to the equator in the supercontinent of Pangaea, and it was humid and sub-tropical. Quoted from the Park handout …. “Over the past 200 million years, continents moved, regions were uplifted, climate changed, and the river system, along with plants and animals, was buried by layers of sediment. Wind and water have continually molded, scuplted, and peeled back these layers, giving us a glimpse of the once tropical land we now know as Arizona.” Early dinosours and reptiles roamed here along with fish, clams, snails and crayfish, and the giant forests of 180+ foot forests thrived here. Hard to believe when you see it today in its pretrified form.
What look like rocks throughout this park are all mostly petrified wood that displays extraordinary colors and designs ranging from coppers, to red and blues throughout the logs. The landscape is stunning and harsh, and it’s hard to imagine how ancient native tribes survived out here. There are remains of ancient villages which were designed in a rectangle with apartment like structures surrounding a central courtyard for social, community and family activities.The petroglyphs were scattered throughout the park, and this one in particular looks like a stork carrying a baby. Remnants of life here exist throughout the park in the form of pottery, messages on stone. Around 1380 these prehistoric groups started moving away probably due to drought and may have joined the Hopi tribes. Over 1000 archeological sites have been found in the park, ranging from small shelters to 100-room pueblos crafted as stated above.
This park is small enough to visit in a day, including the Painted Desert, which displays stunning hues of color and dimension.
We were at a pretty high altitude here – about 6000 feet, so the weather was delightful and easy for walking around. This is a park not to miss if you are ever in the area. It’s one often overlooked by travelers, but so well worth visiting!
Next stop and long road trip to Tucumcari, New Mexico ….