Canyon de Chelly & Petrified Forest – Winslow, AZ

We stayed in Homolovi State Park (https://azstateparks.com/homolovi/), which was set back from the main road. It was quiet and not overcrowded. Two Indian ruins are easy to get to by bike or car from the campground. The ruins consist of the remaining outline of where the dwellings once existed and many pieces of broken pottery.

The town itself is more famous for the song written about it by the Eagles. In its heyday, Route 66 was the only road out to California, but now it is just a tourist site once the interstate was built to accommodate the growing number of people traveling.

Our day trip to Canyon de Chelly exceeded our expectations. The canyon walls tower above the fertile farms and streams and preserve the historic dwellings of past Navajo people. The Navajos still farm and raise sheep here in the valley. Each outlook was awe-inspiring and gave us the same feeling when we visited the Grand Canyon.

The next stop in our exploration was the Petrified Forest. The first stop was the Painted Desert Overlook. Here, the vibrant reds of the rocks and the Painted Desert Inn, now a museum, can be seen. The Blue Mesa was next and the most intriguing. The various hues of blue were displayed in the strata of the rock, and a trail allows you to go deeper into the canyon. As you continue down the road, Jasper Forest is where there is an abundance of petrified wood. It is incredible how wood can turn rock-hard over time. The color variation in some of the stumps was magnificent.

We spent the last day in this area kayaking the Clear Creek. It was so peaceful. The birds circling overhead and the stone walls created a beautiful ending to our time in Winslow.

Email: movebeyondordinary@gmail.com    Instagram: movebeyondordinary and Youtube