Holbrook to Las Vegas, New Mexico
Petrified Forest, Window Rock, Gallup & Santa Fe
Day 2 of the C5 Bash drive — heading east through the heart of the American Southwest.
Day 2 of the C5 Bash drive took Ray east from Holbrook through some of the most geologically spectacular terrain in North America.
Photos from the Day
The Day's Route
Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
The Petrified Forest — 225-million-year-old logs turned to colorful crystal by silica-rich groundwater over millennia. The park straddles I-40 and is one of the most accessible national parks in the country. The Painted Desert, visible from the park's north rim, adds another layer of color to an already vivid landscape.
Fort Defiance, AZ
Fort Defiance sits on the Navajo Nation near the Arizona-New Mexico border — the site of the first permanent U.S. military post in the Southwest, established in 1851.
Window Rock, AZ — Navajo Nation Capital
Window Rock is the capital of the Navajo Nation, named for the natural sandstone arch (the 'window') that frames the sky above the tribal government complex. The Navajo Nation Museum and the Navajo Nation Zoo are both here.
Gallup, NM
Gallup — the 'Indian Capital of the World' — sits on Route 66 and has been a trading center for Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi artisans for over a century. Turquoise, silver, and rugs fill the trading posts along Coal Avenue.
Albuquerque, NM
Through Albuquerque on I-40, then north on I-25 toward Santa Fe.
Santa Fe, NM
A stop in Santa Fe — the oldest state capital in the U.S., founded in 1610. The Plaza, the Palace of the Governors, and Canyon Road's gallery district are all within walking distance of each other.
Las Vegas, New Mexico
Not the Nevada one. Las Vegas, New Mexico is a historic town on the Santa Fe Trail, with a beautifully preserved Victorian downtown and the Gallinas River running through it.