Winslow, Arizona - September 9th to 12th, 2023
Winslow, Arizona is a small town along the historic Route 66. It is worth an afternoon stroll if you are passing through the area. However, we also found a few other things in the area that made spending a few days worthwhile and memorable.
Saturday was our drive from Lee’s Ferry Campground in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to Homolovi State Park near Winslow Arizona. Our first stop was at the historic Cameron Trading Post. We thought we were just stopping for gas and a restroom break. However, they conveniently don’t have restrooms at the gas station, but require you to walk through the trading post to use their bathrooms. The place was packed. It seemed like all of the tour buses stopped there. The trading post was established in 1916. It now consists of a motel, RV park, restaurant, fine art, and gift shop. We managed to escape the store with buying only two bottles of Coke.
Our next stop was the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It was right off of highway 89 just a dozen miles north of Flagstaff. The Lava Flow Trail was one mile long, at the base of the crater. It was an opportunity to get out and stretch our legs. However, the trail exceeded our expectations. The lava rock and formations reminded us of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, but on a smaller scale (Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho - June 5th to 8th, 2021). We would highly recommend stopping if you are in the Flagstaff area.
Our last stop before reaching Homolovi was at a laundromat in Flagstaff. It was on the edge of town, so we didn’t have to go much out of our way. We got our loads done in about an hour and a half and were on our way again. From Flagstaff, we got on interstate 40 to reach Homolovi. It had been weeks since we had been on an interstate. There were so many semi-trucks on the road! That is not something we missed. The interstate may be faster, but we’ll take the two-lane highways over an interstate almost every time. Interstate driving is so much less interesting when you don’t drive through all the little towns along the way.
We reached Homolovi State Park in the late afternoon. The camp sites were nicely spaced apart and large. Since we had electrical hookups, we plugged in and turned on our AC. It had been a while since we had been able or needed to turn on the air conditioning. It was in the 90’s. However, the temperatures cooled down later in the evening, so we were able to turn off the AC and open up the windows. We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we sat outside, enjoying the fresh air.
We spent Sunday in Petrified Forest National Park. We’ll cover that in our next post.
Monday morning we explored Homolovi State Park on our bikes. There are two sets of ancient pueblo ruins that are easily accessible within the park. Homolovi I is a mile from the campground in one direction and Homolovi II is four and a half miles in the other direction. It is a paved road the whole way, so it was easy riding. The terrain is rolling, but nothing too steep. We rode a total of 11 miles.
The ruins were not impressive in and of themselves. It is mainly rubble, with a lot of damage due to looters, but one of the kivas at Homolovi II has been restored. However, the stories about the ruins are interesting. Homolovi I was a settlement from the 13th and 14th centuries, containing about 1100 rooms. Homolovi II was settled around 1330 AD, a 1200 room village housing about 750 to 1000 people. Both of these villages were built by ancestors of the Hopi. Many Hopi clans today still have oral histories of the villages and consider these places where their ancestral spirits live.
Along the road out to Homolovi II, there were several donkeys grazing out on the desert. A couple of youngsters were with them. We’re not sure if these are feral burros or the state park lets local ranchers graze their animals within the park.
In the afternoon, we drove over to McHood Park. Ann heard that there were paddling opportunities from there up Clear Creek. McHood Park is a Winslow city park. It is located just above a dam on Clear Creek. It is a lovely park, with scenery unexpected compared to the surrounding terrain. Ann got out her stand up paddle board and paddled up the creek while Keith found some shade in a picnic shelter to hang out in.
The creek was lined with rocky canyon walls. There was some graffiti on the rocks, but not a lot. The water was calm. At times, it was smooth as glass. She could see the bottom in some places, but mostly the water was deep enough that it was dark. Although there were a few kayaks who entered the creek before her, she didn’t see another person on the water the whole time. The only people she saw was a couple fishing on the rocky bank. Ann only stayed out on the water for about an hour. She’s not sure how far she went, probably less than a mile. She had forgotten to take the Garmin InReach, so she didn’t want to stay out too long. Besides, she wanted to allow enough time to get back to camp to make dinner. Otherwise, she probably would have continued further up the canyon. It was very peaceful and enjoyable.
Since the previous two days were long, we didn’t plan much for Tuesday. There was rain in the forecast, but it held off until evening. We drove into Winslow to check out the town. We were surprised by how much activity there was in town. The Eagles’ song “Take it Easy” put Winslow on the map. There is a “Standin’ on the Corner” tribute to the song. A tour bus was parked near the Route 66 Plaza and a line of people were waiting to take their pictures with the statue. A street performer was playing guitar and singing on the opposite corner.
The historic Route 66 goes right through the center of town. Old shops line the street. An old Texaco gas station makes a good nostalgic picture. Just inside an inviting little courtyard is the World’s Smallest Church. Running parallel to the old highway, along 1st Street, is a nice greenway with old train cars that you can peer into. At the northwest end of the park is the Visitor Center, where there is ample parking for large RV’s.
Across the street from the Route 66 Plaza is the Sipp Shoppe. We stopped for a late morning treat, chai lattes and mixed berry crepes. Pretty tasty.
It had been just over a month since Ann had her left eye checked out and was diagnosed with a PVD (Posterior Vitreous Detachment). They recommended having another dilated eye exam in four to six weeks to make sure there were no complications. So we walked over to the Stewart Eye Center in Winslow to see if they could fit Ann in that day. They were able to squeeze her in before their lunch break. Fantastic! The exam went well and they saw no issues. Yay!
Before heading back to the campground, we filled up our gas tank and stopped by the grocery store. Wednesday was going to be a long driving day, so we wanted to get some things done ahead of time. The rest of the day was spent hanging out at the campground and relaxing.
The Winslow area is not a lengthy travel destination, but we really enjoyed our time there. The idyllic image of paddling up Clear Creek will stay imprinted in Ann’s mind for quite awhile. And as the song suggests, it is a great place to “Take it Easy”.
Check out our related video: Winslow, Arizona
(Ann)