I like a good border. I like the sense of passage when the boundary between countries or states is not some Great Wall of Trump or a seemingly arbitrary administrative line in the middle of nowhere, but a natural barrier that defines and divides places genuinely distinct from one another.
The Colorado River between Arizona and California is a terrific border.
Even though the Colorado is several dams and a couple hundred miles past its Grand Canyon-carving fury, you cross the river and leave the West Coast and California behind and enter the Southwest, America’s real inland empire (with apologies to those from Mentone to Menifee).
I love most everything about the Southwest: the epic red rock landscapes, Native American crafts, ancient cliff dwellings, and most of all the Grand Canyon.
A year without a visit to the canyon is really no year at all for me, especially in 2016 as the National Park Service marks its centennial. Invariably, like most people, I usually focus on the big parks — the brand names like Yellowstone and Yosemite and, of course, the Grand Canyon.
So while visiting the Grand Canyon’s North and South Rims last fall, I decided to shake things up a bit by taking a big 600-mile driving loop through Arizona to visit the state’s collection of national monuments and lesser-known national parks.
We left the crowds at the South Rim behind and after a quick stop at Desert View to see the stone tower famed national park architect Mary Colter designed to resemble an Ancestral Puebloan structure, headed south on U.S. Highway 89.
About 20 miles south of Cameron, we turned off for a 35-mile detour to two national monuments: Wupatki and Sunset Crater.
If your idea of ancient Native American structures is limited to the kinds of cliff dwellings found high up in the alcoves at Mesa Verde National Park, Wupatki’s six 900-year-old pueblos defy expectations.
They rise from the open landscapes of the high desert, seemingly defenseless, but as many as 100 people lived in the largest of the pueblos, which featured 100 rooms and a ceremonial ballcourt.
From Wupatki, the road continues into Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, where an eruption 900 years ago — an instant in geologic time — spewed lava 850 feet into the air and covered the terrain with deep flows.
Even with stands of stunted ponderosa pines, to call the craggy, broken ground a moonscape is no exaggeration considering that between 1963 and 1972 Apollo astronauts trained on the monument’s Bonito Lava Flow.
Views of the volcanic field are spectacular, especially from the short but steep Lenox Crater Trail, which takes in Sunset Crater and 12,637-foot Humphreys Peak, Arizona’s highest point in the San Francisco Peaks outside Flagstaff.
La Posada
After a quick hike to see cliff dwellings along the Island Trail at Walnut Canyon National Monument, we checked into the Mary Colter-designed La Posada de Winslow, a grand 1929 railroad hotel that she envisioned as a 19th-century Spanish ranching family’s rambling hacienda.
Once a gutted ghost, La Posada was saved and restored by a trio of Southern California artists.
“We figured we could work on it ourselves and weren’t that concerned, and our stupidity may have been a good thing,” said Daniel Lutzick, one of the original partners.
“We came from backgrounds where we did all of our own stuff. And as artists we were thrilled to have so much space. The hotel was huge.
“We worked on the whole building and had to experience the entire hotel to really understand it. We definitely ran into roadblocks, but those roadblocks had value. Because then we would go on to work on some other part of the hotel,” he said.
La Posada today is part art gallery, part time capsule, and part stage set, filled with both period furnishings and contemporary paintings.
Ninety trains rumble by daily, and passengers still disembark at the platform and check into La Posada, just as they did when the hotel opened.
And helmed by James Beard Award-nominee John Sharpe, La Posada’s The Turquoise Room is the finest dining in this part of the state, with both contemporary Southwest dishes and traditional items, including Hopi piki bread.
Painted Desert
From Winslow, we headed east on Interstate 40, passing a variety of kitschy tourist traps, then diverted onto U.S. Highway 180 for the drive north through Petrified Forest National Park.
Trails lead past slabs and trunks of petrified wood, the remains of 200-million-year-old trees, and the park also encompasses large sections of the Painted Desert, which certainly lives up to its name.
In addition to orange-and-white banded hills that almost resemble Southwest pottery, at Blue Mesa a 1-mile trail winds through areas with abundant petrified wood and where the terrain is almost purple.
The park’s best panoramas are from the Painted Desert Rim Trail near the Painted Desert Inn.
Set along the only stretch of Route 66 in the national park system, the adobe structure opened in 1940 and underwent a renovation in 1947 led by Colter that included Native American murals created by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie.
Look up at the skylights and you’ll also see Southwest pottery designs painted by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Navajo life
Back on Interstate 40, we skipped an assortment of self-proclaimed trading posts, bound for the real deal at Ganado.
For nearly 140 years, Hubbell Trading Post (now a national historic site) has served as a gathering place and commercial center for the Navajo in eastern Arizona.
Traditional churro sheep, whose wool is coveted by weavers, graze outside and you can tour the original Hubbell home to see its basket collection, rugs, and Southwest art.
Locals still come to Hubbell for groceries and other supplies, as well as to trade their crafts. So if you’re looking for authentic rugs, jewelry, and baskets, you can trust that what you’ll find at Hubbell is the genuine article.
About 40 miles north of Hubbell Trading Post, Canyon de Chelly National Monument remains another stronghold for traditional Navajo life.
While you can drive along the rim to a series of overlooks, including one at the spire-like 750-foot-tall Spider Rock, and a public trail visits the White House cliff dwellings on a 2½-mile round-trip hike, to really see the canyon you need to hire a Navajo guide.
We went out with Adam Teller, an expert in Navajo history. He took us deep into this labyrinth of canyons, where people have lived for almost 5,000 years.
Teller drove along the base of sheer sandstone cliffs and splashed through creeks on our way past historic orchards and farmsteads, as well as 800-foot Fortress Rock, where 300 Navajo found refuge during a siege led by Kit Carson.
After spending the night at Canyon de Chelly, we double-backed through Arizona, taking a side trip to see the formations made famous by the classic John Ford westerns shot at Monument Valley Tribal Park and a ranger-led hike to the Betatakin cliff dwellings in Navajo National Monument.
On the river
We drove through remote reservation lands before arriving at Page, the town founded as a support community for workers during the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and now the gateway to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
It’s a bruiser of a dam, 16 feet shorter than Hoover Dam but more than 300 feet longer along its crest.
Hoover Dam, with its art deco details and terrazzo floors featuring Native American motifs, conveys a sense of romance and heroism while Glen Canyon, if graceful in a minimalist way, seems far more stark and utilitarian.
After walking along the crest of the dam and going inside to its power generators on a tour, we drove south and hiked to the view at Horseshoe Bend along the Colorado River before continuing south on U.S. Highway 89 for Lees Ferry.
While there are gentle half-day float trips that begin below Glen Canyon Dam, reaching the banks of the Colorado River in Arizona is a challenge.
Hike down from the North or South Rims and you’re faced with more than 5,000 feet of climbing back to the top.
So Lees Ferry, a historic river crossing and the only car-accessible spot for hundreds of miles along the river, is the exception.
We looked down nearly 500 feet to the Colorado while walking across the 1929 steel-arch Navajo Bridge along Highway 89 (a new bridge opened in 1995), then drove six miles to Lees Ferry.
Despite the late hour, a Grand Canyon rafting trip was still loading up and getting ready to set out, as riders on horseback paused along the banks of the river and the sandstone cliffs fired a brilliant orange under the afternoon sun.
We walked to Paria Riffle, a modest rapid that scarcely hinted at the roiling maelstroms that the rafters would encounter further into the Grand Canyon and explored Lonely Dell Ranch, which dates to the 1870s.
The green leaves of the fruit trees in its orchards jumped out against the red rock cliffs, and we gathered ripe pears from the branches, a sweet end to another spectacular day of exploring the Southwest. Next stop, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
National Parks and Monuments
Wupatki National Monument. 928/679-2365; nps.gov/wupa
Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument. 928/526-0502; nps.gov/sucr
Walnut Canyon National Monument. 928/526-3367; nps.gov/waca
Petrified Forest National Park. 928/524-6228; nps.gov/pefo
Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. 928/755-3475; nps.gov/hutr
Canyon de Chelly National Monument. 928/674-5500; nps.gov/cach
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. 435/727-5870; navajonationaparks.org
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. 928/608-6200; nps.gov/glca
Glen Canyon Dam Tours. 928/640-3900; glencanyonnha.org/glen-canyon-dam
Lees Ferry. 928/608-6200; nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/lees-ferry.htm
Where to stop along the way
Winslow
La Posada de Winslow. Offering a rare chance to sleep in a Mary Colter building, the individually designed rooms with Southwest art are named for everyone from Albert Einstein to the Doublemint twins. Some still have original tilework; other rooms have been upgraded with whirlpool tubs and carved ponderosa pine beds. 928/289-4366; laposada.org.
The Turquoise Room. Chef John Sharpe’s Southwest-inspired cuisine and the restaurant’s vintage décor make for a memorable night out. 928/289-2888; theturquoiseroom.net.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Thunderbird Lodge. Simple Southwest-styled rooms, a trading post, and a cafeteria. 800/679-2473; thunderbirdlodge.com.
Antelope House Tours. As spectacular as the overlooks may be, for an inside perspective on Canyon de Chelly, head out with skilled guide Adam Teller, whose family has lived in the area for generations. 928/674-5231; canyondechelly.net.
Monument Valley
The View Hotel. A contemporary hotel with outstanding views of classic Monument Valley formations from its rooms, all of which have balconies. A restaurant serves traditional dishes, including a green chile stew. 435/727-5555; monumentvalleyview.com.
Lees Ferry
Cliff Dwellers Lodge. Cabin-style motel rooms at the base of the Vermillion Cliffs. There’s also a general store. Trout fishing guides and boat rentals can be arranged. A surprising restaurant transcends basic roadhouse fare (although the burgers are terrific) with such entrees as seared ahi and New York strip steak. 800/962-9755; leesferry.com.
Award-winning writer Matt Jaffe writes about travel, culture and the West for magazines such as Los Angeles, Westways and Sunset, where he was a senior writer. Reach him at matt@mattjaffewriter.com or follow Matt on Twitter: @mattjaffewriter.
