Arizona Native Lands - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 482

4. First Mesa
First Mesa, the narrowest of the three, rises to a height of 600 feet. The route makes no
attempt to scale its boulder-strewn west wall but skirts the rocky rubble at the base to the
town of Polacca, where a paved side road hugs the eastern cliff as it makes a daring ascent.
Once on top, the road wends through two villages—both of them hundreds of years
old—then suddenly ends. The mesa, though, continues, narrowing to just 15 feet in places.
Near the tip is Walpi, perhaps the most dramatic of all the Hopi villages. Fashioned from
the pale sandstone of the mesa, the 300-year-old dwellings look so at one with their sur-
roundings that they seem to have sprouted from the earth itself.
Did you know…
The Hopi people are known as extraordinary artisans, with those of First Mesa
known for their pottery.
5. Keams Canyon
Visible atintervals alongtheway,drycreekbedsareabouttheonlybreaksinthesameness
of the desert until the drive reaches the town of Keams Canyon. Although it has a center
for native crafts, this is a government outpost, not a Hopi village. A short side trip to the
northeast leads into the town's namesake canyon.
6. Hubbell Trading Post
AsRte.264continueseastward,itclimbsyetanothermesaandreenterstheNavajoNation.
The land is dotted with octagonal hogans, traditional homes constructed of logs held to-
getherwithdriedmud.Moremesas,risetothesouth,incontrasttothestarkdesertplateau.
Later on, the drive makes a steady descent into Steamboat Canyon, named for a giant rock
that seems to sail on a sea of sand and boulders.
Continue past the junction with Rte. 191 to visit Hubbell Trading Post, a national his-
toric site. Still active, the post was established by John Lorenzo Hubbell in 1878, and its
ambience definitely belongs to that era: dim lighting, extrawide counters designed to pre-
venttheft,andfloorboardscreakyfromthepassageofcountlessboots.Amongthewareson
sale are brightly colored Navajo rugs adorned with sacred symbols and geometric patterns.
Learnhowtheyaremadeatthevisitorcenternextdoor,whereNavajowomendemonstrate
the traditional craft.