Homolovi Ruins State Park

After two days we’d had enough of city traffic, and were glad to head north to Homolovi Ruins State Park near Winslow, Az.

The park includes seven separate pueblo ruins built by the ancestors of the Hopi people, between approximately 1260-1400 AD. It's located on a floodplain of the Little Colorado River, and the inhabitants grew cotton, corn, beans, and squash.

The people of this period are called Hisat'sinom by the Hopi, and are often referred to as Anasazi. (Cribbed from Wikepedia)  

There are 4 sites in the park and two are open to the public.  We visited Homolovi 2 first. 

There were 1200 rooms here.  They have all been vandalized and only a few have been partially reconstructed.  What’s most interesting to see is all the remaining shards of pottery from hundreds of years of habitation.   

Someone else’s fine potsherd collection left for others to see.

My two favourite finds

There are also rock chips from toolmaking

I like to look at these and think of all the generations of people who used these utensils and looked out over this same scenery.

In the evening after the gates were closed, we walked down to Homolovi 1, and had the site all to ourselves.  This site is smaller and less disturbed.

On the way back we saw numerous jack rabbits.

I think this photo Leo took looks like a painting.

In contrast to our crowded city RV park in Phoenix (350 sites) next to the interstate, there only 10 campers in this park tonight.  It was hot today, but scheduled to go down to freezing tonight.