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| Park sign (Julianne G. Crane) |
Driving near Winslow, Arizona, I recalled reading Consuelo Heath’s 2011 RV Short Stops’ post: “Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona.” What a nostalgic snapshot for people coming of age in the early 70s. (The location memorializes the corner mentioned in the second verse of “Take it Easy,” written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, and made famous by the Eagles in the band’s first single, released on May 1, 1972.)
As enticing as that downtown corner is, our destination was a couple miles north of Winslow and I-40 — Arizona’s Homolovi Ruins State Park.
“Homolovi” is Hopi for “Place of the Little Hills” — the traditional name for Winslow, Arizona.
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| Pottery at Homolovi State Park museum. |
“The Hopi people of today still consider Homolovi, as well as other precolumbian sites in the southwest, to be part of their homeland. They continue to make pilgrimages to these sites, renewing the ties of the people with the land. The Hopi tell us that the broken pottery and stones are now part of the land and are the trail the Bahana will follow when he returns. Therefore, these are mute reminders that the Hopi continue to follow the true Hopi way and the instructions of Masau’u,” according to the park’s website.
The park serves as a center of research for “the late migration period of the Hopi from the 1200s to the late 1300s. While archaeologists study the sites and confer with the Hopi to unravel the history of Homolovi, Arizona State Parks provides the opportunity for visitors to visit the sites and use park facilities” including a visitor center and museum, a number of hiking trails and an RV-tent campground. Pullouts along a road through the park provide the opportunity to observe wildlife in this park of more than 4,000 acres at an elevation of 4,900 feet.
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| Homolovi State Park Campsite (Julianne G. Crane) |
Location: North of I-40, Exit 247 (north of Winslow, between Flagstaff, Ariz., and the New Mexico border.
The Homolovi Visitor Center includes exhibits and gift shop. Hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Campground
Our site was $20* for a 30 amp back-in site. (Remember the elevation is almost 5,000 feet and it does get cold overnight at least six months out of the year.)
Showers and restrooms are available throughout the year.
Reservations:
Make online by clicking here.
You can also call the Reservation Center at (520) 586-2283 seven days a week, from 8 a.m. — 5 p.m. MST. * There is an additional $5 non-refundable reservation fee per site. (We were drop-ins and only paid the camping fee.)
To read more of Julianne G Crane’s writing, go to RVWheelLife.com.
