In The Painted Desert National Park, the Blue Mesa Road, offers spectacular viewpoints that feature overlooks with panoramic views, all located less than 2 miles north of the Painted Desert Visitor Center. There are no camping facilities or overnight parking allowed in the park.
Painted Desert Inn
The restored 1924 Painted Desert Inn is 2 miles north on the park road. The inn was built with wood and stone in the Pueblo Revival style with flagstone terraces and earth-textured walls that are two feet thick. In 1940, the Fred Harvey Company managed the place to serve passengers traveling the Santa Fe Railway, then it closed in 1942.
In 1947, architect Mary Jane Colter renovated the inn with a new color scheme and glass windows to display the surrounding landscape, a pioneering style of architecture that brought inside the essence of the outdoors.
The interior lunchroom, where the Harvey Girls served hungry train passengers, features murals painted by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie. The inn closed again in 1963 and was scheduled for demolition in 1976. The National Park Service stepped in to list it on the National Register of Historic Places and saved it. In 1987, the secretary of the interior designated the inn a National Historic Landmark.
The Painted Desert Inn reopened in 2006. Though it no longer operates as a hotel and restaurant, the museum and bookstore feature extraordinary architectural details, such as hammered-tin chandeliers, local pottery, and a vivid mountain lion petroglyph, one of the finest in the region.
Route 66 Studebaker
The park road circles back toward I-40 heading south. Right before you approach I-40, look west on the right side of the road for a rusted 1932 Studebaker that marks an old Route 66 alignment.
Newspaper Rock
Heading south on the park road, you will reach Newspaper Rock on the right side of the road. Newspaper Rock contains more than 650 petroglyphs etched into its boulders and offers a glimpse of the people who lived here in the Puerco River Valley close to 2,000 years ago.
Blue Mesa Trail
The Blue Mesa Trail is a moderately strenuous 1-mile hike among bluish-bentonite clay badlands and petrified wood. The trailhead starts at the Blue Mesa sun shelter just past Newspaper Rock.
Explore the quirky adventures and misadventures as I take you on a journey of the United States National Parks. These journeys inspired me to explore even more about the history of the United States, the good, the bad and the ugly. These journeys are encouragements to explore, or re-examine these beautiful lands. From mountain roads with hairpin turns to stunning seaside escapes to exploring good old American history, these are amazing journeys to take in this lifetime.
Comments