Heading North to Cottonwood Arizona

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Having spent nearly the last 3 months in southern Arizona, it is time for us to start our journey north. We will try to take our time. In fact our next destination is another Arizona state park - Dead Horse Ranch State Park. It is less than 150 miles away. Generally heading up Interstate 17. What should have been an easy drive turned into something less than ideal.

As we got outside of the greater Phoenix area, we noticed thick black smoke in the mountains to the north. We never dreamed that the smoke would mean anything bad for us but it would turn out that way. Traffic started to get quite heavy then came to a crawl. There was a multiple car crash blocking one lane so we were all forced to merge to get past this accident. But things did not improve on the other side of that crash. In fact we came to a dead stop only a couple hundred feet beyond this one. It turned out there was an initial accident a few miles north of us and the vehicles caught fire. Traffic was backed up for many miles. We had planned to stop for lunch at a rest stop in about two miles but once we realized we were going to be here for a bit, Chris made lunch and we ate while watching all the people milling about their vehicles. We probably could have made some money selling food or even "renting" out our bathroom. After about 45 minutes, traffic started up again and once the initial rush occurred, the rest of the drive was smooth sailing. We saw where the fire must have been based on the road condition. The exit following the fire, we saw two burned out vehicles on the back of a flatbed truck.

Cottonwood is about 20 miles southwest of Sedona which would be close enough to see many of the sights in that area. We decided that we would do one of the more popular hikes in Sedona our first full day in the area. Being a Saturday, didn't help. We made it to the small parking lot for the Cathedral Rock hike only to find it full, the overflow lot full and all the legal spots along the narrow road taken. We quickly made up a plan B and headed to Bell Rock. The parking lot wasn't any better there, but we lucked into a person pulling out as we pulled in.

The trail up to the base of Bell Rock was easy enough to follow but once we got to the actual climbing portion, it wasn't so clear. We ended up doing some meandering and found a couple geocaches along the way. As we started up the climb, there isn't really a path but more of a free for all trying to pick the safest route up. I found the surface of the red rock to be extremely grippy with my boots so didn't have too much trouble climbing. Chris on the other hand, was unable to make it very far up the rock. She found a spot to wait for me while I ventured a bit further up the rock. I determined my limit is based more on my ability to come back down safely rather than go up.

View From Bell Rock

Another View From Above

Looking up Bell Rock

After the hike, we ate lunch and then headed to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross.
This chapel is built in the side of a hill and is an incredible work of art as well as an engineering marvel. We parked at the bottom and expected to walk up the road the rest of the way, but there were a few golf carts being used as taxis to get people up there easier. Kind of surprising since this was just a weekday afternoon, but the place was quite busy. The chapel itself is on the small side but is open for the public to enter. The neighborhood is pretty nice too. The house just across from the chapel is estimated in Zillow at just under $3 million.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Not a Bad View

Could Probably Make Due with this House

We also drove around to some of the more popular geocaches in Sedona. One was at the fire station. It was a fire hydrant replica that had a few locks that needed to be opened to get to the log. The other was at the Sedona police station. The cache was a toolbox that was locked with a pair of handcuffs. The key was hidden nearby. Upon opening the box, flashing lights came on under the table. It was a nicely done cache that explains the hundreds of favorite points it has earned.

Fire Hydrant Cache

We Got Past the Hand Cuffs

Another day trip took us southeast of Cottonwood to a few historical sites. The first stop is near Rimrock. V-Bar-V Heritage Site is run by the US Forest Service. It is only open 4 days a week so you need to time your visit accordingly. What is the attraction here? One of the largest and best preserved petroglyph sites in Arizona. We happened to time our arrival just as the gate was being opened. After signing in at the visitor center, we followed the docent out to the actual petroglyph site behind a locked fence. The petroglyphs were impressive enough but what really made it special was the description the docent provided. One of the large panels is believed to be a solar calendar. The orientation of the wall is such that a rock sticking out casts a shadow on the wall and during the different times of year.

Well Preserved Petroglyphs

Solar Calendar

Docent Explains Solar Calendar to Next Group

Montezuma Well is our next stop not too far away. There is a large sinkhole in the limestone roughly 400 feet in diameter. An estimated 1.5 million gallons of water enters the sinkhole each day from an underground spring! It exits through canals that have been in use for centuries to irrigate farm land. Some ancient dwellings are still present built into the rim of the sinkhole. It is an interesting place to explore even if it's only for an hour or so. While we were there, a large group was being led around and there was a local Indian explaining some of the beliefs and traditions from their culture regarding this sacred place.

Cliff Dwelling Above Montezuma Well

Looking Down on Montezuma Well

Flowers Along Channel

Next stop is Montezuma's Castle National Monument. It is closer to the town of Camp Verde. There are a couple cliff dwellings located at the site and are reasonably well preserved. Decades ago, visitors were actually able to enter the dwellings but this was stopped to help preserve them for future generations. It was extremely crowded when we were there. Probably because that weekend was a "free" weekend for all National Parks and Monuments. It's not a huge place so it doesn't take long to check out the visitor center and then walk past the dwellings.

Main Cliff Dwelling at Montezuma Castle

Since we were this close, and our Arizona park pass would gain entry to it, we continued our "culture" tour and went to Fort Verde State Historic Site in Camp Verde. This was a Fort back from the late 1800's. Many of the buildings are still standing and visitors can enter several of them to see how life was back then. By the time we were here, I think we were getting a bit tired of all the history lessons, so we probably didn't soak in much of the info.

Buildings at Fort Verde

One of the main tourist attractions in the Cottonwood area is the Verde Canyon Railroad. Since the train doesn't depart until 1 PM, we had time in the morning to visit Tuzigoot National Monument. Another pueblo ruin from many centuries ago. This site was pretty much rubble but was excavated in the 1930's and partially reconstructed to show what the area looked like when people lived here. It was interesting and fit the bill of filling in some of the time we had in the morning prior to the train ride.

Bird Checks Out Tuzigoot

From the Top of Tuzigoot

Closeup of Tuzigoot Rooms

The train actually departs from the Clarkdale station which is only several miles from the campgrounds. There are a few riding options for the train depending how into trains you are and the size of your wallet. One person can ride up with the conductor for the paltry sum of $350. That sounded neat but I passed. The next option was a ride in the caboose. This would set you back $700 but you could take along up to 5 of your friends for that price. Not up for that, you could pick first class for a mere $90. Since we really just wanted the experience of riding the train and seeing the scenery, we picked coach class for $65. More than we really wanted to spend, but it is a 4 hour excursion that gets you to some remote areas you can't get to by car or hiking.

I doubt they were completely sold out, but if not they must have been close since the train station was jam packed with people. There is a small museum, gift shop and grill to check out prior to boarding. We were on the "Tucson" car. In between most of the enclosed passenger cars were open air cars. After boarding and listening to the safety speech, we hustled back to our open air car and spent the entire ride on it - standing for nearly the full 4 hours.

Nice Paint Job

Our Route

Bringing Up the Rear

There were speakers with both a pre-recorded tour soundtrack and a employee that could point out specific things and answer questions. It was hard to hear the recording over the noise of the train, but I'm pretty sure they included every song that even remotely mentions a train in it to fill in the gaps in the narration. The ride covers 20 miles of track between Clarkdale and Perkinsville, mainly following the Verde River and the canyon associated with it.

Rounding the Bend

Open Air Car

Approaching Trestle

The trip includes several bridge crossings including a trestle and one tunnel that is 680 feet long. The initial portion of the trip out of Clarkdale was not too special, going through portions of the old mining remains and them to some mountains that were okay but not the red rock we were looking forward to. But it didn't take long for the views to improve to spectacular for the rest of the trip. The day was mostly cloudy but on the return trip, the clouds started to break and the sun peaked out making for a very enjoyable and scenic ride. I would say that it was worth the price of admission.

In the Canyon

Old Mine Remains