Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

Once we finished playing in the sand, we drove over to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. 42 miles of twisty winding road through the mountains puts you at the cliff dwelling site. I let Zachary drive about half the way up the mountains to the park. Now I understand why Donna clutches the dashboard when I'm going up or down the mountain on the other side of Elijay. *grin*

It is an easy (unless you are 40 years old, 50 lbs overweight, and trying to keep up with a couple of teenagers) half mile hike up to the site from the parking lot and well worth the time and effort.



The Mogollon lived there over 700 years ago and moved on after only a generation. I wonder what drove them to move though? The valley floor had water and good places to grow crops, etc.



We were going to camp at one of the many different locations available there at the park, but the boys and I decided we had plenty of time left in the day to keep on traveling a bit. So, we loaded up and headed to our next destination, Tombstone Arizona.