Enjoy the colorful palette of the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, sleep in a teepee, and relive The Eagles song “Take it Easy.”
Mother Nature spent some extra moments in Northern Arizona when she created the wondrous sights between Winslow and Chambers. They can be seen along I-40, with a twist of nostalgia tossed in for good measure as Historic Route 66 weaves its way along this colorful 75-mile stretch of high desert nation. Exit 311 from I-40 delivers you to the colorful palette of the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. You’ll be amazed at the endless stream of nature’s colors and gigantic chunks of prehistoric wood now rock-hard with the passing of the ages. Visitors can only take pictures, as the National Park Service prohibits pocketing pieces of the petrified rock. The roads through the Petrified Forest National Park are pristine blacktop with broad sweeping curves from one overlook site to another. Read more . . .
Think of the American Southwest and you’re likely to imagine the cactus-strewn beauty of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Seeing it on a picture postcard is one thing; going through it with a leisurely desert drive is quite another. Thirty minutes east of Phoenix is Route 79, a sun-bleached length of two-lane blacktop that links Florence Junction to Tucson. The 74-mile long route is lightly traveled, flanked by heat-ravaged countryside dotted to the horizon with giant saguaro cactus.