We made our way from Grants, New Mexico to Flagstaff, Arizona along I-40 passing through some of my favorite scenery with lots of fun billboards to read. As we departed Grants and headed west on I-40 we began to see lots of billboards for trading posts selling everything from moccasins to Indian arts and crafts to Guy Stuff!! Even after you cross into Arizona there are quite a number of trading posts scattered along the highway along with Stewarts Petrified Wood near Holbrook. Stewarts has not only dinosaur bones, petrified wood, meteorites, gold nuggets, but live ostriches. You can’t go wrong with a store that has large dinosaurs out front with bodies in their mouths!!! A must see stop for those hankering for the weird and bizarre or those wanting to invest in meteorites.
We continued on towards Flagstaff to our normal stomping grounds at Bonito Campground, one of our favorite campgrounds. When we got near Flagstaff the sky was dark and the ground was damp/wet. Wow, we haven’t seen that in awhile.
Campground: Bonito Campground
Location: About 12 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona just outside entrance to Sunset Crater National Monument
Site: 33 – pull along
Cost: $13 (that’s with half off using our Interagency Pass)
Services: dry camping
Comments: One of our favorite campgrounds. The sites are nice and spacious and are tucked away in the Ponderosa Pines. The sites do vary by size and shape but we have always been happy with whatever we got. We especially like site 33 due to the great views, wide open space, and nice site privacy. We did not expect this from a pull along site.
COVID Awareness: 10 out of 10. At this campground you go ahead and find a site and the hosts come around and collect your money and put a tag on the campsite post. The hosts wore masks and gloves. It was easy and fast to register.
The weather was perfect and campfires were allowed in a campfire pit/container. We enjoyed breakfast over the campground and nice campfires in the evening. It was great to finally get some cool weather after a very hot summer and before heading south to even warmer weather! At over 7,000 feet this campground provides nice respite from the desert heat!
Other Sites around the campground:
The campground is set deep in the Ponderosa Pines and surrounded by lava beds and cinder. The amphitheater is nearby and there are various areas to hike around and explore.
Not only is there lots of areas to explore within the campground but you can also follow some trails which lead from out of the Coconino National Forest and into Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument as they border one another.
Count on it…we will be back!
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