Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [324]
1 mile RT. Easy. Access: Kachina Point stop on scenic drive.
As this cinder trail meanders along the Painted Desert rim between Kachina and Tawa points, it affords stunning views of the desert, where gray, pink, and red badlands stand out against the green grasses at their bases. The trail is atop the basalt of the Bidahochi formation, which at 8 million years old is much younger than most other rocks in the park. This layer has disappeared in many areas of the park but is widespread in other parts of northern Arizona. Here, it provides fertile soil for a diversity of vegetation, including juniper, Mormon tea, sagebrush, and cliffrose. The trail has wayside exhibits, plant identification signs, and benches.
Painted Desert Wilderness Trail About .5 mile one-way. Moderate to strenuous. Access: Kachina Point.
This trail descends in switchbacks down the face of the badlands below Kachina Point, then follows a wash for a short distance before petering out in the grasslands on the floor of the Painted Desert. You won't find water or shade here, but you will have a chance to experience firsthand the desert's colors and landforms. Before wandering far, be sure to identify landmarks you can use to retrace your steps. (The Painted Desert Inn makes an especially good landmark.) If you carry a topographical map and plenty of water and sunscreen, you should have few problems in this desert, which has excellent sight lines and few insurmountable obstacles. Walk on the dry streambeds when possible. Besides being easier, this minimizes the damage to the fragile plant life.
It's worth spending the night here just to watch the sun dip below the red sands of the desert. Before bedding down, you must first obtain a backcountry permit at one of the visitor centers, then walk at least a mile into the 43,000-acre Painted Desert Wilderness, which starts on the other side of Lithodendron Wash. The direction you take from the bottom of the wash will depend on which "use area" you sign up for. You'll find spots smooth enough for camping near many of the mesas and badlands. (Keep in mind, however, that runoff can create problems during storms.) Don't forget to pack insect repellent; in spite of its dry climate, the park has been known to support an unusually active population of no-see-ums.
Puerco Pueblo Trail
.5 mile RT. Easy. Access: Puerco Pueblo.
This relatively flat loop travels through the 100-room Puerco Pueblo. The 30 excavated rooms hint at the floor plan of the buildings—a trapezoid around an outdoor plaza where most of the activity in the community took place. As you walk, you'll observe places where the rooms were one, two, or three deep around the plaza. Where they were two deep, the rooms on the outside may have been used to store crops harvested from the floodplains below. The inside rooms, which opened onto the plaza, were probably used for sleeping or shelter from inclement weather. Three kivas—ceremonial rooms dug into the ground—were inside the plaza, and one is obvious alongside the trail. Partway around the loop, a short trail leads down to an overlook from which you can see numerous petroglyphs.
Camping
There are no campgrounds in the park. Backpackers with backcountry permits can stay in the park after it closes for the evening, but they must hike at least 1 mile into the wilderness before setting up camp. For drive-in camping, head to Holbrook, 25 miles west of the park on I-40, where several commercial campgrounds offer all the usual amenities.
The KOA Campground, 102 Hermosa Dr., Holbrook, AZ 86025 (☎ 800/ 562-3389 for reservations, or 928/524-6689), has a large, inviting swimming pool that shimmers like a mirage on sunny days. There are 27 grassy tent sites and 109 RV sites. The cost is $19 to $24 for tents and RV spaces without hookups, $22 to $30 for RV hookups. Major credit cards are accepted. The campground has a playground, game room, snack bar, public phones, coin-op laundry, propane, dump station, and cable TV hookups (for a fee). It's open year-round.