I moved to Arizona in January of 2021 and in the year since, I have made it to all 3 National Parks in the state. I even worked at one for 2 months! But despite my best efforts, I only made it to 3 of Arizona’s National Monuments in 2021. I will be moving out of Arizona in September of 2022, so I’ve set a goal for myself to try to visit all of Arizona’s National Monuments in 2022 and write a blog post about each monument. I’ll use this page to keep track of trip planning.
National Monuments in Arizona:
- Canyon de Chelly
- Casa Grande Ruins
- Chiricahua
- Coronado
- Grand Canyon-Parashant
- Montezuma Castle
- Navajo
- Organ Pipe Cactus
- Pipe Spring
- Sunset Crater Volcano
- Tonto
- Tuzigoot
- Vermilion Cliffs
- Walnut Canyon
- Wupatki
Planning
| Flagstaff |
Walnut Canyon Wupatki Sunset Crater Volcano |
| Sedona |
Tuzigoot Montezuma Castle
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| Navajo Nation |
Navajo Canyon de Chelly
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| Phoenix |
Tonto Casa Grande Ruins
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| South Arizona |
Organ Pipe Cactus Coronado Chiricahua
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| North Arizona |
Grand Canyon-Parashant Pipe Spring Vermilion Cliffs
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Things to Keep in Mind
- Organ Pipe Cactus bloom season: May and June
- NPS Website
- Reservation details on Recreation.gov app
- Visit Southern Arizona before monsoon season
- NPS Chiricahua
- Consider combining with a trip to Bisbee
- Need 4×4 vehicle for Grand Canyon-Parahsant. Visit in late spring or early summer
- 4×4 rental company
- figure out 4×4 rental by April — talk to Kyle+Kristie
- Need permits for The Wave at Vermillion Cliffs
- Website
- Applied for permits June 5, 6, 11
- Good to have 4×4 to get to trailhead, will be necessary if it’s raining
Here’s a tentative schedule for visiting all of the monuments before I move out of Arizona. Very much subject to change
S |
M |
T |
W |
Θ |
F |
S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
5 Wupatki + Sunset Crater Volcano |
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6 Tuzigoot + Montezuma Castle
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7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
12 Chiricahua
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13 Coronado
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14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
26 Vermillion Cliffs
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| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
S |
M |
T |
W |
Θ |
F |
S |
| 1 |
2 Canyon de Chelly
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3 Navajo
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4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
9 X
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10 x
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11 X
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12 X
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13 X
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14 X
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15 X
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16 X
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17 X
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18 X
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19 X
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20 X
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21 X
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22 X
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23 X
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24 Walnut Canyon
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25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
S |
M |
T |
W |
Θ |
F |
S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
7 Tonto (?)
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| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 Organ Pipe Cactus - Twin Peaks |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
21 X
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22 X
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23 X
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24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
28 X
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29 X
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30 Memorial Day X
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31 X
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S |
M |
T |
W |
Θ |
F |
S |
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1 X |
2 X |
3 X |
4 X Vermillion Cliffs (?)
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5 X Vermillion Cliffs (?)
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6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
11 Tonto Vermillion Cliffs (?)
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12 Casa Grande Ruins
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13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
S |
M |
T |
W |
Θ |
F |
S |
|
1 X
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2 X
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3 X
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4 Independence Day X
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5 X
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6 X
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7 X
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8 X |
9 X
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10 X
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11 X
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12 X
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13 X
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14 X
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15 X
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16 X
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17 X
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18 X
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19 X
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20 X
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21 X
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22 X
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23 X
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24 X
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25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 |
S |
M |
T |
W |
Θ |
F |
S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
13 Grand Canyon-Parashant (?)
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14 Pipe Spring (?)
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15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
27 X
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28 X
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29 X
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30 X
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31 X
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