A rousing road tripthrough Canyon country.

By Jason La 

FARFLUNG ARIZONAAuAn Arizona road trip? Why not? Last winter, a college friend and I visited the Grand Canyon, one of the countryAAEs most celebrated treasures. In late April, we decided to return to check out ArizonaAAEs northeastern corner, which seemed speckled with less-visited wonders and, I hoped, a few hidden gems. I didnAAEt have grand expectations for our itinerary. After all, what could be as breathtaking as the 6-million-year-old chasm, especially as I had seen it, dusted by snow and illuminated by the last rays of daylight? The answer, I soon learned, was plenty. Day 1 Using Flagstaff as our jumping-off point, we decided to meander north on US Highway 89. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument wasnAAEt part of the plan, but a roadside sign announcing it caught our attention. Its name intrigued me, and I thought this could be one of our hidden gems. The colorful 3,040-acre park is easily enjoyed in relative solitude. Black rock with touches of green and yellow lichen covers most of the Bonito Lava Flow, near the park entrance. Red and orange glaze the top of Sunset Crater Volcano, the parkAAEs namesake. Legend has it that 19th-century explorer John Wesley Powell gave the crater its name because he thought its rim resembled a sunset. Just up the road from Sunset Crater is Wupatki National Monument, with picturesque scenery and pueblo ruins. The largest of these is the Wupatki Pueblo, which in the 12th century had 100 rooms holding as many residents. You can tour the pueblo grounds, including the ball court and community room. Day 2 From Sunset Crater and Wupatki, we drove two hours north on US 89, heading for Horseshoe Bend. Although itAAEs part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, nothing about it initially seems remarkable. You can barely find it from the highway. The parking lot is small and dusty. Furry caterpillars meander across the A"-mile trail. But if you trudge on, what you encounter is nothing short of amazing. Vistas from the cliffAAEs edge offer crisp views of the Colorado River 1,000 feet below as it cuts a horseshoe into the land. Greenery lines the river on both sides as reddish-orange and yellow rock strata rise from the banks. Seeing Horseshoe Bend recalled the wonder I felt gazing at the Grand Canyon for the first time. Although the latterAAEs magnitude makes comparison absurd, I appreciated that I could take in Horseshoe Bend in one gulp. The view is stunning, but aside from the trail to the edge of the cliff, the area doesnAAEt lend itself to hiking. For a complete experience, pair Horseshoe Bend with nearby Antelope Canyon. Off state Highway 98 on Navajo land about 11 miles east of Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon looks like any other stretch of desert. But descending into this canyon, you feel as if youAAEve stepped into an elaborate art installation. The slot canyonAAEs walls, formed from sandstone, convulse into elaborate abstract shapes. Light shines unevenly inside, casting bright patches in some places and shadows in others. Every turn you take yields a new sight. Not for the passive walker, Lower Antelope Canyon is an interactive experience. You climb and squeeze your way through. Some sections are so narrow that only one person at a time can pass. At the steepest points, visitors can continue only with the aid of metal stairs. We jumped back on 98, heading east for about three hours to US Highway 163, where we saw enormous rock formations rise as we neared the Arizona-Utah border. The towering presence of Monument Valley amid the flat landscape made me feel as though I had stumbled on the land of giants. Monument Valley, the backdrop for numerous Hollywood westerns, is a concentration of towering sandstone rock formations, some more than 1,000 feet high. A 17-mile drive winds past the valleyAAEs formations, including the Mittens, Grey Whiskers, King on His Throne and the Three Sisters. For the most part, the monuments resemble their names. Because Monument Valley is a Navajo tribal park, climbing is not permitted. Hiking opportunities also are limited. Day 3 For the last leg of our road trip, we decided to check out Petrified Forest National Park, about a four-hour drive south of Monument Valley via Highway 191 and Interstate 40. The trees were formed more than 200 million years ago when they were washed into streams and buried under sediment, so none stands upright. The trees, however, wear an impressive palette of colors from mineralsAumostly quartzAuthat formed in lieu of organic matter. The Petrified Forest doesnAAEt lend itself to a quick stop. Driving the 28-mile road that leads past most of the parkAAEs sights takes at least an hour, not taking into account stops. Photographic opportunities abound at the Painted Desert, a colorful collection of hills, buttes and mesas carved by millions of years of erosion. The Blue Mesa Trail carries you into the bowels of the Painted DesertAAEs badlands, an alienlike landscape strewn with kaleidoscopic petrified wood. History buffs should stop at Newspaper Rock, a collection of boulders bearing more than 650 petroglyphs. From there, where we spent more time than planned, we raced 90 miles west on I-40, intent on reaching Meteor Crater. The 50,000-year-old chasm, gaping like a wound that never quite healed, sits on private land owned by the Barringer family. Viewing the immense craterAuit measures 4,000 feet across and 550 feet deepAuelicited thoughts of the impact. Seeing the shape of the crater from its rim, you can guess the meteorAAEs trajectory as it struck the Earth. From its rim, the crater looks more like a valley, the violence of the prehistoric impact worn away by time. But maybe my wonder was mitigated by the 1,100 miles we had driven or the 400-mile drive home we had ahead of us. In just three days, I had seen a lifetimeAAEs worth of canyons, badlands, craters, mesas and buttes. But, for me, Lower Antelope Canyon and the Petrified Forest were the true hidden gems. Los Angeles Times photos by Jason La LATWP News Servic

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