We checked out of our hotel and ate a delicious brunch at the hotel restaurant. We left this day open to either explore more of Flagstaff or head to Sedona to hike. The kids had been looking at their National Parks passport book and asked if we could go to some of the nearby national monuments.
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument was only a 10 minute drive from our hotel and the kids really wanted to visit. Patrick's 4th grade America the Beautiful pass allows the whole family to visit National Parks and Monuments for free, so we gave it a try. It ended up being a really cool experience and something none of us had seen.
We hiked the Lava Flow Trail which is about a mile around the base of the volcano. The volcano erupted in 1085 by splitting in half and spewing lava for miles.
Can you spot us down there at the base of the volcano?
I didn't take many pictures because we had so much fun exploring. The kids loved looking at the black sand and lifting the lava rocks. They were all amazed to learn that the lava rocks are so much lighter than they look. The kids had so many questions we couldn't answer that we tracked down a volunteer Park Ranger and let the kids ask all of their questions. It was a really neat experience for the kids and I am glad we took the little detour.
In the same loop and about 20 minuets from Sunset Crater Volcano was Wupatki National Monument. We were going to skip it and head to a brewery to watch some March Madness, but the park ranger convinced us to give it a try. The 20 minute drive to the monument was my favorite part. There were amazing views of the painted desert. The painted desert runs from the Grand Canyon to the Petrified National Forest. We didn't have time to stop at the overlooks this time, but the view from the car was pretty amazing.
It was pretty hot, so we quickly explored for about 15 minutes. It was neat to see, but it wasn't one of our favorites.
We also very quickly explored Walnut Canyon National Monument, which are ancient cliff dwellings. We made it just before closing and only had about 15 minutes to explore. Patrick, Peyton and I hiked the Walnut Canyon Island Trail, which is really only a half of a mile to see an overlook. The main trail looked really cool, but we were too late to be able to hike it before closing. We didn't have a chance to take a picture with the National Park sign and this is one we would definitely want to explore again.
We were all a little hungry so we went to Beaver Street Brewery to have a late lunch/dinner. Then we made the 45 minute drive to Sedona. We were able to have a late afternoon swim in the pool in Sedona. It was freezing and I was shivering by the pool in a sweatshirt, but the kids didn't seem to mind in the heated pool.
We had a great day exploring Flagstaff and learning a lot of new things!
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