Wupatki and Sunset Crater National Monuments from Phoenix - Private Tour

Ancient Pueblo people dating back to 500AD. Located between the Painted Desert and ponderosa high country of northern Arizona, Wupatki is a landscape of legacies. Ancient pueblos dot red-rock outcroppings across miles of prairie. Wupatki, which means "Tall House" in the Hopi language, is a multistory Sinagua pueblo dwelling comprising over 100 rooms and a community room and the northernmost ballcourt ever discovered in North America. The dwelling's walls were constructed from thin, flat blocks of the local Moenkopi sandstone, giving the pueblos their distinct red color. Held together with mortar, many of the walls still stand. Each settlement was constructed as a single building, sometimes with scores of rooms.

This is a U.S. National Monument in the north-central portion of Arizona, created to protect Sunset Crater, a cinder cone within the San Francisco Volcanic Field. In 1928, a Hollywood film company, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, planned to detonate large quantities of explosives on the side of Sunset Crater in order to create an avalanche for Zane Grey's motion picture Avalanche. Public outcry over this plan led in part to the proclamation of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in 1930. A 1-mile, self-guided loop trail is located at the base of Sunset Crater, but hiking to the summit is not permitted. A visitor center is located near the park entrance.

Museum of Northern Arizona. This historic museum was founded in 1928 by Harold S. Colton and Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton and was originally established to protect and preserve the natural and cultural heritage of northern Arizona through research, collections, conservation and education. It plays a vital role as interpreter of the Colorado Plateau. It has several rotating exhibitions that cover a variety of subjects of interest. Their website has a complete list of the current showings, https://musnaz.org . The Museum of Northern Arizona is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.