This last weekend, I left my campsite at McHood Park and headed into Flagstaff. I spent a day exploring the three national monuments just outside of the city before spending a night in a hotel in town. Finally, just outside of Walnut Canyon National Monument, within Cococino National Forest, I found a wonderful campsite which I have been spending the week at.
Walnut Canyon
Leaving Winslow Friday morning, I headed right to Walnut Canyon National Monument. I passed immediately by it while stopping in Flagstaff for an oil change, but I didn’t drop in to see it. This time, I finally ended up spending the morning enjoying the beautiful canyon full of cliff dwellings.
Sunset crater volcano and wupatki
From Walnut Canyon, I headed straight to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, driving the full loop through Wupatki National Monument as well. I ended up spending the better part of the afternoon on these parks, enjoying the amazing volcanic scenery all around the area and the pueblos dotted all over the landscape at Wupatki. It made for a blast of a day!
Still having time left, I dropped back into Flagstaff proper and checked into a hotel that I had booked for the night. It was nice to have nice laundry facilities and get a good shower; things I don’t quite get as much as I would like at times.
Alas, spending more than one night in a hotel would have been awfully spendy, so I headed to a boondocking area in Cococino National Forest, just outside of the boundaries of Walnut Canyon National Monument. As much as the nights have been cold at this high elevation, the area is beautiful and it’s been absolutely pleasant during the day.
