2/22 Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Cottonwood, AZ

This is a place I have been before.  Cottonwood is a medium-sized town about 20 miles southeast of Sedona.  I used to like Sedona when it was a nice, small town, but it has been developed to the point where it is one chain store after another and the entire valley is filled with homes.  Just too commercial and too many expensive touristy shops to suit me. 

Dead Horse Ranch State Park is nice because it is along the Verde River and the campsites are on the slopes of hills above the town.  Good views during the day of the desert and even better views at night of the lights of the city.  Paved roads, nice big camping pads, with electric and water hookups makes me even happier! 

I like to stay in state parks because sites are farther apart, and you get scenery and wildlife.  Things are pretty dry in this high chaparral, but it is still pretty.

Did you know you could take your horse camping?  In fact, you can in a lot of state parks, especially in the west.  Here are some corrals where you can park your horse safely overnight.  If you have a self-contained trailer or motorhome, you can park it here and stay close by.  There are many horse trails in the area you can ride on, as well.

 

From the top of the bluff where the campgrounds are, you can see Tuzigoot Monument, which is another ancient Native American village. 

And you can also rent a horse in this state park if you forgot to bring your own!

There are several fishing lagoons along the river.  Nice place to walk, sit, or even fish.

I thought this was an interesting tree.  Some of those lower branches were over 2' in diameter.  I am guessing it is a cottonwood???

And here is the Verde River flowing through the park.  There were two guys standing in waders fly fishing for trout.

 

 

Nice day again today for a bike ride, or whatever, although they had freeze warnings posted for last night and tonight.  It is warmer where I am up on the bluff, so no worries.