Sedona, AZ

Sunday, 23 December

Today, we over-planned the day in thinking we could do several cool things in one day as we tried to take advantage of a beautiful day ahead of a cold front arriving Tuesday.  Looking back, it was much more than could be reasonably done in two full days.  Perhaps a bright spot in the bickering presently going on in Washington was that several of the places on our list were closed, and some others were overcrowded, either because there was no fee today (with the federal government closed), it was a beautiful weekend day, or they are just plain popular.  So our list got whittled back to something more manageable.

Our planned first stop of the day was to be Montezuma Castle National Monument along I-17 about 2 hours north of where we spent the night.  We knew it was under National Park Service, but we hoped at least we could hike the trails.  Several media outlets suggested National Parks would be open to access, just the services like Visitor Centers, restrooms, and campgrounds would be closed.  As we headed north on I-17, signs stated that the Grand Canyon National Park was open, so we held out some hope.  When we arrived, the gates were locked.  We then decided to also skip the nearby Montezuma Well National Monument as it was likely closed.

We then turned up Arizona 179 toward Sedona.  Part of this road is designated the “Red Rock Scenic Byway”.  An absolutely stunning drive in the red rocks.  Kind of how I imagine it might be to drive in the Grand Canyon, albeit a slightly smaller scale.

Once we got to Sedona, we managed to find a parking place for Sprinty, and headed for the Visitor Center for local information.  We picked up some trail maps for some hikes we might be bike to do with the time we had.  The first one, which was on our list of places to see, was Devils Bridge.  It was also a National Park fee place, which the Visitor Center told us there would be no fee collection today as the government was closed.  As we approached the turnoff to the trailhead, we saw dozens of cars parked along the main highway.  We decided to skip Devils Bridge for now.

Near the Devils Bridge trailhead, we saw a sign for the Palatki Heritage Site, a cliff dwellings place on our list, which said it was closed as it is run by the National Park Service.  We assumed the nearby Honanki Heritage Site, a cliff dwelling and rock art site, was also closed as it too is run by the National Park Service.

Next up on the list was Crescent Moon Ranch, which is also run by the National Park Service.  I thought they might be open as it was just trails, and no historic artifacts that needed to be protected.  Along the way, we stopped for some pictures at a pullout along the Red Rock Loop Road.

The gate to Crescent Moon Ranch was open, but we were surprised the fee station was manned.  The park staff advised they were concessioners, so they were at work as they weren’t federal employees.  And took our $10 entrance fee to use the park - our Senior Passes did not get us in free because it was operated by a concessioner.

We did a short, easy hike along Oak Canyon Creek, and took the iconic photo of Cathedral Rock from that park:

As well as several other photos

We then went to Red Rock State Park, only a few miles away, also along Oak Canyon Creek.  There we went to the Visitor Center to learn some of the history of the park, then did a short loop hike down to the creek and back.  There were several more hikes available, but after 4 miles of hiking for the day and being already mid-afternoon, we left those for another day.  Not sure we got our entire $7/person entrance fee worth today.

We then headed west about 20 miles to our campground for the evening, Dead Horse Ranch State Park near Cottonwood, AZ.  Checking the on-line reservation system, we knew they were less than 1/3rd full, so we did not make a reservation in case we changed the plan.

Dead Horse Ranch got its peculiar name in the late 1940s from the previous owners, the Ireys family from Minnesota.  They were looking to buy a ranch and on their tour they discovered a large dead horse lying by the road outside of the property.  After two days of viewing ranches, Mr. Ireys asked the kids which ranch they like the best, and they all agreed “the one with the dead horse, dad!“  Acquired in 1973 by Arizona State Parks, the Ireys family made it a condition of the sale that the park retain the name Dead Horse Ranch.