The Grand Circle Part VII - Northern Arizona
- David Maiwald
- Feb 16
- 14 min read
Updated: Feb 18
Part VII of the Grand Circle Series - Colorado and Arizona
In this article:
Petrified Forest National Park
During one of my most recent visits through the area I drove along I40 from Chambers, Arizona towards California as part of my fall 2024 road trip from South Dakota’s Black Hills to Los Angeles. This was the perfect opportunity to explore Petrified Forest National Park - a place that I’ve been meaning to see for a long time. Unfortunately this park has always been just a little bit too far out of the way for me, being roughly 3 to 4 hours from Albuquerque or Phoenix, and about 2 hours from Flagstaff. However, since its northern entrance station and Visitor Center are both located right along I40, this park is in fact one of the easiest accessible national parks of the Grand Circle and therefore makes for a perfect detour when traveling through the area.
Petrified Forest National Park protects an incredibly colorful part of northern Arizona’s high desert plains containing extensive badlands and, most notably, those vast basins filled to the brim with fossilized trees. The northern entrance station which is situated right at the exit of I40 marks the beginning of the 45 km drive along the park’s paved main road. The northern section of the park is characterized by the badlands of the painted desert which consist of brightly colored and striped sedimentary rocks that have been eroded into countless buttes and hills as far as the eyes can see. I was impressed to see how many different colors and shades of blue, red, green, and yellow this seemingly barren wasteland could offer. The first 30 km along the paved main road led me through an incredible array of colors and dramatically eroded bare rock, starting at the Painted Desert Overlooks north of I40 and leading all the way down, deep into the heart of the rugged badlands around the Teepees and the Blue Mesa.
However, in my opinion the most impressive part of the park starts just south of Agate Bridge, roughly 30 km from the northern entrance. When I finally reached Jasper Forest I spotted for the very first time those vast fields full of petrified trees. Walking along the short loop trails into these forests of crystallized fossils I couldn’t believe my eyes how large and fully intact some of those tree trunks were. Here I was standing amongst those giant and brightly colorful rocks that had clearly visible growth rings and a perfectly intact layer of petrified bark. The texture was just like that of a living tree. A surreal experience, trying to comprehend that this was an actual living organism that did not look much different hundreds of millions of years ago. I was just overwhelmed by the sheer number of fossils that I was seeing - little did I know that the farther south I’d get the more dense those petrified forests would get with Crystal Forest and Rainbow Forest offering even more spectacular views and even larger fossils along their loop trails. All in all I can say that this park was one of the biggest positive surprises, with it being far less popular than the likes of Grand Canyon or Zion National Park.
Quick facts about Petrified Forest National Park:
main roads: Petrified Forest Road
highlights: Kachina Point / Jasper Forest / Crystal Forest / Rainbow Forest
good to know: 30 km drive to the first forests when entering at the north entrance
The area around Flagstaff
Flagstaff is situated in the very heart of northern Arizona right at the foothills of the prominent San Francisco Peaks which are visible from up to 100 miles away in the mostly flat and barren surrounding high desert. The area in and around Flagstaff therefore offers a variety of outdoor destinations in addition to countless cultural and historic sites for Route 66 fans. While the surrounding areas east, west, and north of the mountains are mostly characterized by vast open desert and prairie-like plains, Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks are situated in the middle of dense forests and green pastures which makes for a stark contrast when traveling through the area. Here landscapes will change entirely within minutes. Less than 40 km and roughly 30 minutes north and east of Flagstaff lies Arizona’s high desert. 50 km out west the endless grassland prairies stretch as far as Kingman. And roughly 40 km and less than 30 minutes south of Flagstaff the colorful rocks and canyons of Sedona await.
For those passing through, Flagstaff offers the perfect opportunity to stock up and do some sightseeing in the historic city center with plenty of Route 66 themed photo opportunities before continuing into the less densely populated areas of northern Arizona up north or out east and west. I myself passed through the area several times in the spring of 2022 and in the winter of 2024 when I was traveling from Phoenix to Page, and again in the fall of 2024 when I was traveling along Route 66 from New Mexico to California. Besides shopping, dining, and Route 66 Flagstaff is a major hub for outdoor enthusiasts with the Arizona Snowbowl right at its doorstep and plenty of hiking opportunities in the nearby mountains. My two favorite outdoor destinations in the greater Flagstaff area were Sedona and the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, both roughly 30 to 40 minutes from Flagstaff.
During my visit in the spring of 2022 I passed through Sedona and the scenic Oak Creek Canyon which is situated about halfway in between Flagstaff and Sedona. Sedona marks the incredibly colorful southern escarpment of the Colorado Plateau and lies roughly 1,000 meters lower than Flagstaff. This means a considerably warmer climate year round. However, the most notable characteristic of Sedona is its scenery which is characterized by towering brightly colored cliffs and mesas. The red and orange colors are as intense as hardly anywhere else and the surrounding mesas and rugged cliffs of the nearby southern escarpment of the Colorado Plateau are filled with dramatically rugged rock formations of all shapes and forms. This makes Sedona one of the most popular outdoor destinations in Arizona for hiking, biking, and off-road driving, offering a vast network of trails all across the area. On top of that the scenic landscape with its colorful rocks and towering cliffs makes for perfect photo opportunities along the way.
One of the highlights was Red Rock State Park where I could just relax, kick back and enjoy the pristine scenery while cooling off at Oak Creek and watching the nearby Cathedral Rock Spires glow dramatically in the light of the setting sun. Airport Mesa was another great spot offering scenic hiking trails and beautiful viewpoints from where I was able to overlook much of Sedona and the surrounding cliffs. However, my all-time favorite was hiking along the Dry Creek Road all the way to the Devil’s Bridge. This hike offered some of the most stunning vistas in all of Sedona. While it was quite busy and the sun was quite intense with little to no shade along the way the scenic viewpoints more than made up for all of it. A little further up north - halfway between Sedona and Flagstaff - Oak Creek Canyon offered another impressively scenic outdoor destination. The most impressive part of the canyon lies just below Oak Creek Vista, where the road winds its way up the southern escarpment of the Colorado Plateau until it finally reaches the upper rim at almost 2,000 meters above sea level. From here I enjoyed some sweeping views of the endless forests and the narrow canyon below.
In the winter of 2024 I was traveling from Phoenix to Page and stopped at the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to enjoy the pristine snow-covered alpine scenery. Both the Sunset Crater Volcano as well as the San Francisco Peaks are the result of volcanic activities in the region which has created the highest peaks of Arizona as well as a vast area covered by lava fields and cinder cones. When I visited the area inside the Sunset Crater National Monument in the early January of 2024 it was a bright and sunny winter day with strong winds and freezing temperatures. There were dense pine forests mixing with vast lava fields which started opening up on all sides the further I traveled into the park. The immediate area around the impressive Sunset Crater was covered by rugged lava fields which I explored via the Lava Flow Trail. From up here I was able to enjoy some beautiful views of the snow covered volcanic landscapes around me. The views of the nearby San Francisco Peaks were spectacular and I had most of the roads and hiking trails all to myself. A primeval volcanic landscape set in the middle of a pristine mountain wilderness that soon made me forget that a completely different high-desert landscape waited for me less than 10 km up north.
Quick facts about Flagstaff:
main roads: Route 66 / I40 / Highway 89 / I17
highlights: Sedona / San Fransisco Peaks / Sunset Crater Volcanic N.M.
good to know: most outdoor highlights are only 30 to 40 minutes by car
Grand Canyon National Park
One of the most popular parks in the NPS system and a symbol of the natural beauty of the American Southwest, Grand Canyon National Park truly stands out. The bright colors and vast distances of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World make for those world-renowned views that attract millions of visitors each year. While the vast dimensions of the Grand Canyon cannot be comprehended the sheer numbers are still impressive: over the course of six million years the Colorado River has carved this 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and over a mile (1,800 meters) deep canyon into the Colorado Plateau, thus exposing 2 billion years of our Earth’s geological history. To put this into perspective: a hike from the high elevations along the upper rim all the way down to the bottom of the canyon leads through a total of five climate zones. While those facts are impressive to read they mean nothing when standing at the edge right along the drop-off into this entirely different world below. It is that strange sensation of being overwhelmed by something that just cannot be comprehended, let alone be described by words. Yet those dramatic colors, the rugged cliffs, and that calming stillness of it all is simply beautiful.
Ever since I have first visited the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park I have returned several times only to experience a completely different atmosphere each time I return. While it has been the South Rim that I have returned to time and time again, the Grand Canyon has always presented itself differently depending on the weather, the time of day, and the time of the year. The very first time I visited the Grand Canyon was when I first traveled through the U.S. Southwest back in August and September of 2013. I have done the typical tourist route traveling from one major city to another along California’s Pacific Coast, and eventually ended up in Las Vegas where I booked a guided full-day bus tour to the South Rim. It was a long day of sitting in a bus for about an hour or so of walking from the Mather Point to the Yavapai Point and then back to the bus - something that I’d never do again. While it was early September the monsoon season was still going strong with long rainy days all over Southern California and all the way to northern Arizona. So there I was at Mather Point, after more than five hours on the road, looking into the fog-covered depths of the Grand Canyon.
After my first failed attempt to experience the Grand Canyon in all its colorful glory I gave it a second try nine years later in the spring of 2022 and again in the winter of 2024, both times setting up camp at the Yavapai Lodge which is situated right at the South Rim. During both of those visits I started my journey in Flagstaff and made my way up the Desert View Drive towards the park’s east entrance. And both times the weather was just perfect, with strong and freezing winds and clear sunny skies. I braced for a glorious sunset as I approached the Grand Canyon from the east during my 2022 visit. It was late afternoon and the entire surrounding landscape was already covered in a bright yellow light by the low sun as I drove past the Little Colorado River Gorge. After finally reaching the national park boundary I headed west for the hotel and the nearby viewpoints. And there it was, already visible from the road, the seemingly endless depths of the canyon with its bright warm colors. I stopped right at the next viewpoint along the way - which was Moran Point - and took it all in: the Grand Canyon as I had always hoped to see it one day. It was a feeling that is hard to describe. You just try to grasp it all - understand what you are looking at. Try to make out anything in particular. But you can’t. It is all just too much, too vast, too great to comprehend. All you can do is just stand there in awe.
After a while I continued toward the parking lot near the Mather Point overlook from where I caught my very first sunset over the Grand Canyon. As I was standing there right at the edge of the South Rim looking along the Rim Trail looking eastward and watching the shadows slowly rising from the depths of the canyon as the sun started to set behind me, the bright orange and red colors of the canyon walls gradually changed into a dark purple before being swallowed up entirely by the dark. Shortly after the sky above the opposite North Rim did just the same - changing from a warm orange into a deep purple. The next day I took on the Rim Trail from the aptly named Ooh Aah Point all the way to Hopi Point - a beautiful hike of roughly 9 miles or 15 km that led me past Mather Point, Yavapai Point, the Grand Canyon Village, Maricopa Point, and countless other beautiful unnamed spots along the way with plenty of room to escape from the crowds and to enjoy the Grand Canyon all by myself. Because of the many stops along the way the entire hike took me all morning. The weather was beautiful with a clear blue sky and sweeping views as far as Mt. Trumbull some 60 miles or 100 km out west from Hopi Point. However, there is one thing that I will not forget - and that is the incredibly bad sunburn I got along my neck during that hike. With the cool temperatures I did not remember to put on sunscreen, forgetting the fact that the high elevation and clear skies are the perfect mix for an intense sun.
During my most recent visit to the Grand Canyon in late January of 2024 I returned to the exact same spots that I had visited two years before, adding some of the viewpoints along the eastern section of the South Rim to my itinerary - including the Desert View Watchtower and Grandview Point. With just the higher elevations inside the canyon near the upper rim being covered by snow and the warmer climate down below keeping the canyon frost-free, Grand Canyon during the winter was just as bright and colorful as during the summer, with the little added bonus of a white rim all along the edges - which made for a beautiful atmosphere. This time I went out to Mather Point late at night in order to experience the pitch black and the eerie silence as well as the starry skies of Grand Canyon National Park. It was a disorienting sensation once I switched off my flashlight with no sounds and little to no light around me. But after a while my eyes adjusted to the dark and I started to see the beautiful stars above as well as some isolated lights of the Phantom Ranch far below at the bottom of the canyon. The most notable experience of the night however was when I turned my flashlight back on and started my way back towards the parking lot. That was when I noticed that I haven’t been alone all along with a set of eyes reflecting back to me from a couple of meters below the rim. When I returned the next morning to see what it could have been I only noticed an empty shallow cave right where the eyes stared at me the night before.
After all these visits I cannot say which overlook is the best or what distinct feature makes the Grand Canyon most beautiful. There are some things that I myself started to appreciate quite soon, such as the beautiful sunsets which I got to witness at Mather Point or experiencing some peace and quiet at some of the less-crowded spots along the Rim Trail. I also noticed how some viewpoints offered better and mostly unobstructed views of the Colorado River far below in the canyon, like for example Hopi Point, Moran Point, or the Desert View Watchtower. And for those brave enough to head out into the freezing Grand Canyon nights, experiencing the crystal clear night skies at any one of the viewpoints can make for some great memories.
Quick facts about Grand Canyon National Park:
main roads: Desert View Drive / South Entrance Road / Yavapai Lodge Road
highlights: Desert View Watchtower / Mather Point / Hopi Point
best hikes: Rim Trail
good to know: allow for at least one full day to be able to explore the South Rim
The area around Page
Page is northern Arizona’s major tourist hub conveniently located in between the Grand Canyon, the Grand Staircase with all its colorful national parks, and the dramatic destinations of the Four Corners region. There also are a number of world-renowned as well as some lesser known natural landmarks right at the doorstep of this busy desert town - most notably Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. Because of that, Page can be quite busy and expensive, especially around the peak seasons of spring and fall. I visited Page in the spring of 2022, when I set up camp right here for two nights, and again in the winter of 2024 when I passed through on my way from Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon in southern Utah. There is not much to the town itself except for the large selection of hotels and restaurants. The main attraction is the surrounding picture-perfect high-desert landscape.
About an hour south of Page Lees Ferry marks a historic section along the Colorado River in between Glen Canyon to its north and the Grand Canyon to its south. A unique stretch of land where the Colorado River is easily accessible and not entrenched in between some steep canyon walls, this location has been used to access and cross the Colorado River by natives and settlers alike before bridges allowed for easier crossings. Today this is one of the main spots for rafting tours to access the river and float downstream into the Grand Canyon. Besides its historic and recreational significance this spot offers some beautiful scenery and one of just a few opportunities in Arizona to experience the Colorado River up close as it flows in its original course. When I visited this spot in the spring of 2022 I enjoyed the serenity of this place even though it was quite busy with river rafters at the time. There were wild horses roaming the opposite side of the river and the calm and frigid waters made for a beautiful contrast against the backdrop of the steep cliffs of nearby Glen Canyon just a little further upstream. While this area was a little out of the way for me coming from Page, the drive here was as scenic as it gets, leading past impressively colorful towering cliffs, dramatic viewpoints high above the river, and through spectacular desert landscapes. So, all in all a worthwhile detour if there is enough time to spare.
Just a little further upstream, high above the depths of Glen Canyon, Horseshoe Bend probably is the most popular and busy outdoor destination near Page. The parking lot is roughly 6 miles outside Page, located right along Highway 89. Due to the popularity of Horseshoe Bend there are fees charged at the parking lot. From there it is a short walk about half a mile along an out-and-back trail that leads right to the rim. During my first visit to Page in the spring of 2022 I made my way out there to check out one of the most iconic viewpoints all along the Colorado River. It was still early in the morning but the sun was already quite intense as I made my way down the trail through the crowds. I actually feared the worst as the parking lot was already filled to the brim. But once the rim appeared for the first time I was relieved to see that there was more than enough room to spread out all along the eastern edge of the canyon. So I found a quiet spot away from the crowds and got closer to the rim when all of a sudden those postcard views started opening up right in front of me. Like so many times at any of the other magnificent outdoor destinations in Arizona and Utah I was awestruck by these incredible views. Standing right at the edge I was surprised to see how steep and deep the drop off actually was, and how I was able to walk right up to it - with no fences or barriers anywhere. It felt like the Colorado was flowing right underneath me the way it slowly made its way around this wide open curve. That’s when I decided to lie down flat on my stomach with just my head over the edge of the rim looking straight down into the abyss more than 1000 feet (300 meters) deep and almost a mile (1.6 km) wide. An incredible and strangely mesmerizing feeling! Although there was not much else to do or see, the views were absolutely worth it - a spectacular mix of colors, shapes, and vast dimensions.
Quick facts about Page:
main roads: Highway 89 / AZ State Route 98
highlights: Lees Ferry / Horseshoe Bend
good to know: very busy so make hotel & guided tour reservations well in advance
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