Visit Date: September 22, 2014

Day Three of my “Goodbye God, I’m going to Texas” road trip turned out to be a great day for seeing new things and exploring old things. For some reason, ancient cliff dwellings have always held a fascination to me, but I had never had the opportunity to visit any. So when I learned that there were cliff dwellings a short distance from Route 66, in Walnut Canyon National Monument, that became a definite stop on my travels to Texas.

I had stayed overnight in Winslow, and yes, I did briefly stand on a corner. And bright and early on day three morning, I got on I-40 and headed WEST. Yes, that's the opposite direction as Texas, but I had it all figured out.

I arrived early in the morning to find a good number of cars already in the parking area at Walnut Canyon. Taking a couple bottles of water and my camera, my first stop was the Visitor Center and Museum. As I was anxious to see the dwellings, I didn’t dawdle. I paid my $5 fee and got to it. There are two trails available to visit the area; the Island Trail and the Rim Trail.

The Island Trail was the one I wanted, as it descends 185 feet into the canyon and provides access to 25 cliff dwelling rooms. I wanted to get close and personal and if possible, enter some of the rooms. The hike is about one mile long and listed as “strenuous.” Probably due to the 240 steps back up to the Visitor Center. The day of my visit the NPS was doing some trail rehab, so a small portion of the loop was closed, but I was still able to see most of the dwellings in the area and even go into a couple of them. It’s a pretty amazing place and definitely one I recommend for anyone in the area.