Flagstaff, AZ

Surprise! We stayed extra days in Sedona. We just couldn’t leave! Actually, Flagstaff is a good 15 degrees colder than Sedona and Sedona is already 30-40 degrees at night. Also, Flagstaff hotels are expensive

Although we decided to camp out in Sedona for a couple more nights, we made a day trip to Flagstaff today! My camera battery died before we started our hikes, sad.

We started the day at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument which is a little over an hour from Sedona. This #smallparksaturday (yes it’s Sunday, but the National Park Service does a series called small park Saturday to highlight the smaller parks that they manage so I’m referencing that here), anyway, this small park had big things going on! It reminded me of Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. Flagstaff is at a higher elevation than Sedona, 7000+, and is a popular skiing spot.

Not to mention the area is home to over 600 volcanos. The San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic mountain range created by the eroded remains of a stratovolcano. The Sunset Crater Volcano erupted around 1064 CE and dramatically altered the landscape. After 900 years, the vegetation is growing back!

The lava fields were so awesome.

We were able to walk 4 miles around the park on the A’a trail (.2 miles), which took you around blocks of basaltic a’a lava that cooled over 900 years ago. The Lenox Crater trail (1.6 miles) with views of the Lenox Crater and San Francisco Mountain, Bonito Lava Flow & Sunset Crater Volcano. The Bonito Vista Trail(.3), a paved trail with interesting interpretation signage. The Lava Flow Trail (1 mile) with views of the Bonito Lava flow, a spatter cone and a lava tube. The first .3 of this is accessible. We saw an Aberts Squirrel, they have very bushy tails. We spotted one in a tree.

We were able to see this monument in 2 1/2 hours and we really enjoyed the hikes and views!

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Connected by a loop road, the Wupatki National Monument is 18 miles down the road from the A’a trail parking area.

The Wupatki NM protects the remains of masonry pueblos, or villages. The provide evidence for a large farming community that lived in the area in the 1100s. But by 1250, they had left, higher into the Colorado Plateau. Their descendants are the Hopi, Zuni, and Navajo.

The largest Pueblo had over 100 rooms, and was used as a grand gathering space. We visited the Wupatki Pueblo behind the visitor center, and saw the Lomaki & Citadel Pueblos on the way out. We also had grilled cheese & soup in the parking lot-

We really enjoyed these 2 National Monuments, they’re located in such a diverse environment!

We’re sad to be leaving Sedona as it has started to feel like a home base spending Christmas Eve & Christmas here, and we’ve loved the red rock views. Traffic sure is bad at night though!