When you think of national parks in Arizona, a certain, rather grand canyon may come to mind. But, Roger Naylor, a longtime Arizona travel writer, says there’s a whole lot more out there when it comes to national parks and monuments in our fine state.
Naylor's new book "Arizona National Parks and Monuments," offers a companion for anyone willing to explore them. He says it doesn’t have to be a massive undertaking and they each offer a glimpse into a piece of Arizona history. Naylor joined The Show to discuss.
Full conversation
ROGER NAYLOR: We actually have three full-fledged national parks. We have 19 national monuments — more than any other state — but we also have different types of units. We have national historic sites, national historic trails, national recreation areas, so forth and so on. I explain all the differences, but ultimately what matters is that these are our special places. These are our crown jewels, and they're right here in our backyard. We have 34 of them ... and I bet a lot of people couldn't name many of them.
There are at least a third of them that are within a two-hour drive of the Valley of the Sun, and you can reach virtually every single one of them within a four- to five-hour drive. So that's just a lot of adventures waiting for you right there.
You're also trying to make the point that it doesn't have to be a massive thing. These are not all backcountry hikes or things that you need to be incredibly experienced with the outdoors to go do.
NAYLOR: Exactly. I think there's sometimes that intimidation — "Well, it's a national park, so we need some vacation days or a long weekend or what." And you can certainly do that, but there are so many of these that are just great little day hikes, great little simple, easy two-hour adventures. You know, Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot, Tonto National Monument ... nice, quick, easy little day trips that are perfect to show guests, too, from out of town that want to see, experience some of our past and and and scenic beauty.
But you can kind of do them in all kinds of different ways. Even the big national parks. Just last month — I live in Cottonwood — so I'd get up in the morning. I drove out to the Grand Canyon. I hiked down South Kaibab Trail about 3 miles to Skeleton Point, which is one of my favorite little spots. I've got a nice ledge there I like to sit up. Had a snack, hike back out, drove home. You know, and I just because I can, you know, it's just a fun thing.
A lot of times one of the things I do when I'm traveling. In eastern Arizona is get off the interstate right there at the Petrified Forest. That's the Painted Desert portion. And you can, as soon as you enter the park ... there's a nice little rim top there and you hike right down into these beautiful badlands that are colored like blood and peaches. And I like to sit down there, I eat a sandwich, I hike back out, and I continue on my journey. So that's my lunch hour instead of sitting in a restaurant ... I kind of realize a lot of my national park visits revolve around eating, but that's OK. We have the world class picnic spots. So ... it's perfectly OK to see these parks however you want to experience them.
In you book, you offer just a little view into a piece of Arizona history that many may not even know had ever happened. Talk about some of those kind of under the radar places. What is Pipe Spring National Monument, to begin with?
NAYLOR: That is a beautiful spot. It's a speck of a park, a tiny little 40-acre park set amidst the Arizona Strip, which is that portion of Arizona cut off by the Colorado River. So it is in the far north section. It is, I think, the most remote place in Arizona that you can reach via paved road. It's paved all the way, and it's a gorgeous drive. You'll fall in love with it, and it tells this incredible story. It's an old Mormon fort built atop a water source in the midst, this vast grasslands, and you learn about the Mormon history, the Paiute history, the cowboy history.
This is where the first telegraph to enter Arizona came in from. They thought it was in Utah for many, many years. In fact, with the rancher who filed a claim filed in Utah. It wasn't until many years later they realized it's actually in Arizona. And the fort is all still intact, all these beautiful historic buildings. There's a short hiking trail, and again it's one of those spots. Yeah, a lot of people have never even heard of. But it is so gorgeous to see and you learn about this entire chapter of our history that's really fascinating.
Let's talk about Wupatki National Monument, north of Flagstaff around the Sunset Crater area. It's a really striking place, not big at all and sort of off the beaten path.
NAYLOR: It is Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument are connected there, joined by one scenic road that travels through the north of Flagstaff off in the grasslands there.
And Wupatki, by the way, is about to celebrate its centennial as a national monument. In December, it will be 100 years old as a national monument. But yeah, what makes Wupatki so unique among all our pueblos and so forth — there's so many of them are cliff dwellings. They're tucked away in alcoves or they're kind of in caves that, you know, protected and stuff. Wupatkis are all freestanding pueblos, and some of them are really distinctive.
They rise like red bone ghosts out of this grasslands, and they look like natural formations and stuff. And really striking, and you learn as you travel through, you learn about the reason it exists. Because For a very brief period after the eruption of Sunset Crater, back around 1085, that led this area to become farmable and so some of the Natives realized that and moved in. The Wukoki Pueblo itself is the largest freestanding pueblo in Arizona. It's more than 100 rooms, so it really is beautiful. They've got this natural blow hole there .... where just you feel this cool. blast of air in the summertime coming out at you. It's really nice.
