Page 79 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Southwest USA & National Parks

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u Meteor Crater
Road map C3. Off Hwy 40 exit 233.
Tel (800) 289-5898. Open Jun–Aug:
7am–7pm daily; Sep–May: 8am–5pm
daily. Closed Dec 25. &
∑ meteorcrater.com
The Barringer Meteor Crater, a
meteorite impact crater, was
formed nearly 50,000 years
ago. The crater is 550 ft (167 m)
deep and 2.4 miles (4 km) in
circumference, and so closely
resembles a moon crater that
NASA astronauts trained here in
the 1960s. Guided rim tours are
available, and the visitor center
tells the story of the crater
through exhibits and a film.
i Petrified Forest
National Park
Road map D3. Off Hwy I-40. Tel (928)
524-6228. Open hours vary (about
7am–8pm in mid-summer and
8am–5pm in mid-winter). Closed
Dec 25. & ∑ nps.gov/pefo
The ford across picturesque Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing, Sedona This national park is one of
Arizona’s most unusual
t Tuzigoot National y Sedona attrac tions. Millions of years ago
Monument Road map C3. * 16,000. ~ @ n rivers swept trees downstream
Road map B4. Follow signs from 331 Forest Rd. (800) 288-7336. into a vast swamp that once
covered this area. Ground-water
∑ visitsedona.com
Hwy 89A. Tel (928) 634-5564. transported silica dioxide into
Open 8am–5pm daily. Closed Dec 25. The town of Sedona sits amid downed timber, eventually
& ∑ nps.gov/tuzi
the magnificent red-rock cliffs turning it into the quartz stone
and canyons south of Flagstaff. logs seen today, with colored
On a solitary, slender limestone In 1981, the psychic and writer crystals preserving the trees’
ridge, the Tuzigoot National Page Bryant identified seven shape and structure.
Monument ruins offer splendid vortexes in the area, which she Running the length of the
views of the Verde River Valley. believed emanated electromag - forest is the Painted Desert, an
The pueblo was built by the netic energies that invigorated area of colored bands of sand
Sinagua people between the the soul. The subsequent influx and rock changing from blues
12th and 15th centuries and, of “New Agers” was followed to reds as light catches
at its peak, had a population of by a burgeoning tourist mineral deposits.
around 300. It was abandoned industry that is From the Painted
in the early 15th century, when reflected in the Desert Visitor Center,
it is believ ed the Sinagua range of restaurants, a scenic road travels
migrated north to join the hotels, stores, and art the length of the
Ancestral Puebloans. galleries here. park. There are nine
Tuzigoot was partly rebuilt Sedona is a good overlooks on the route,
by a local and federally funded base from which to Cross section of including Kachina Point,
program during the Depression explore the area. Accessed petrified log where the Painted
in the 1930s. This emphasized from Red Rock Loop Desert Wilderness
one of the most unusual Road, Crescent Moon Ranch is trailhead is located. Near the
features of pueblo building, the a US Forest Service Recreation south end of the road is the
lack of doorways. The normal Area with a ford across Oak Rainbow Forest Museum.
pueblo room was entered by Creek. Farther along Red Rock
ladder through a hatchway in Loop Road is Red Rock State E Rainbow Forest Museum
the roof. Sinaguan artifacts Park, where a gentle, wooded Off Hwy 180 (south entrance).
and art are on display at the stretch of Oak Creek offers hikes Tel (928) 524-6228. Open hours vary.
visitor center. and lovely picnic spots. Closed Dec 25. &

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