Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
97
on two adjacent granaries that resemble horse collars. The trail is about .6 mile round-
trip. Allow a half-hour.
CAMPING
A primitive 13-site campground has pit toilets, tables, tent pads, and fire grates, but no
drinking water, showers, or other facilities. It's limited to vehicles no more than 26 feet
long, and only one vehicle is allowed per site. Cost is $10; sites are allotted on a first-
come, first-served basis. (
Note:
Free drinking water is available from a spigot in the visi-
tor center's parking lot, but there's a five-gallon limit.)
6
WINSLOW: ARIZONA'S FOUR CORNERS
GATEWAY
55 miles E of Flagstaff; 70 miles S of Second Mesa; 33 miles W of Holbrook
It's hard to imagine a town that could build most of its tourist fortunes on a mention in
a pop song, but that is exactly what Winslow has done ever since the Eagles sang about
“standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona,” in their hit song “Take It Easy.” On the
corner of Second Street and Kinsley Avenue, the town has even built an official Standin'
on the Corner Park (complete with a mural of a girl in a flatbed Ford).
Popular songs aside, Winslow can claim a couple of more significant attractions. Right
in town is one of the Southwest's historic railroad hotels, La Posada, which, over recent
years, has been restored to its original glory. Twenty miles west of town is mile-wide
Meteor Crater. And east of town is Homolovi Ruins State Park, which has ancient ruins
as well as extensive petroglyphs.
Winslow makes a good home base for visiting some of Arizona's four corners attrac-
tions, but we've found some great places to stay scattered across the region; they're men-
tioned in the sections below. In particular, if you're hoping to spend some time at Canyon
de Chelly National Monument, you should consider spending a night or two at one of
the Chinle accommodations recommended in that section.
6
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE
Winslow is on I-40 at the junction with Arizona 87, which leads
north to the Hopi mesas and south to Payson.
Amtrak
(
&
800/872-7245
) trains stop
in Winslow at La Posada hotel, 501 E. Second Street.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Contact the
Winslow Chamber of Commerce,
101 E.
Second St. (
&
928/289-2434;
www.winslowarizona.org).
ONE BIG HOLE IN THE GROUND
Meteor Crater
At 550 feet deep and 2
1
/
2
miles in circumference, the Barringer
Meteorite Crater is the best-preserved meteorite impact crater on earth. The meteorite,
which estimates put at roughly 150 feet in diameter, was traveling at 40,000 mph when
it slammed into the earth 50,000 years ago. Within seconds, more than 175 million tons
of rock had been displaced, leaving a gaping crater and a devastated landscape. Today,
you can stand on the rim of the crater (there are observation decks and a short trail) and
marvel at the power, equivalent to 20 million tons of TNT, which created this other-
worldly setting. In fact, so closely does this crater resemble craters on the surface of the
moon that in the 1960s, NASA came here to train Apollo astronauts.
