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3_dog_nights
Explorer
Oct 13, 2018

best CG 4 Painted Dessert AZ

Planning a trip to cross things off the bucket list. Which CG is the best to access to area?
  • We stay at the Crystal Forest Gift Shop. They have a few electric sites at minimal price and dry camping free. From Holbrook go southeast on 180 to the Petrified Forest Nat'l Park road. It's right on the corner. We've also stayed at Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow - very nice - but not when we toured Petrified Forest/Painted Desert. There's also a RV park in Holbrook. You only need a night as the parks are a one-road drive through with some short trails.
  • eubank wrote:
    I'd recommend something like a little round daytrip from (near) Winslow, up to Second Mesa,


    2X and free dry camping at the trading post near Second Mesa.
  • Can you dry camp? If so free dry camping at the two rock stores on the south side of Petrified Forest also at the City (?) lake at Winslow AZ. You can see Painted Dessert and Petrified Forest in a few hours.
  • We stayed in Holbrook at the KOA. Very nice park, not too expensive and close enough to Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater and Four Corners. The wigwam motel is also worth a visit downtown Holbrook. Ask in the office and they'll give you a key to see inside the rooms. Very cool.....Dennis
  • The painted desert is a kind of big area with few facilities. A lot of it is on either the Navajo Reservation or the Hopi Reservation.

    That said, there are highways leading through, and they're visually well worth the mileage. Personally, I'd recommend something like a little round daytrip from (near) Winslow, up to Second Mesa, then around through First Mesa and Keam's Canyon, back down south to Holbrook, then interstate back to Winslow. Or vise versa. End your day with a nice meal at the train station restaurant in Winslow! You'll never forget it.

    In Winslow, we generally stay at the nearby state park, Homolovi Ruins. But there are some RV parks around, too.

    :)
    Lynn

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