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curiouscat.com > Travelogues > USA > Arizona > Petrified Forest > Sunset and Meteor Craters
Meteor Crater was worth going to but is run as a private business and it makes me glad the National Parks are not run that way. Meteor Crater was created when a meteor struck the earth millions of years ago. Photo of the lizard, to the left, was taken on the Meteor Crater rim.
The highlights of my trips near this area was Sunset Crater. It offers some great hiking trails. Note: no photos from Sunset Crater are posted at this time.
At Sunset Crater signs and the park rangers provide warnings to walk only on the designated trails. Unfortunately many people ignored the law and so the scenery is marred by traces left behind by selfish people. It would be nice if people that didn't care about nature would stay away from it instead of harming the parks for others. This is consistent with my experience at other national parks but this one has fragile environments that do not recover from abuse as well as some others (for example Yosemite, Yellowstone and Redwoods).
Photo to the right shows me in front of Meteor Crater.
Wupatki National Monument was a worthwhile and enjoyable small site. Built close to 1200 A.D. and less than 100 years later the occupants then moved out. Down the path to the right (as seen in the photo below) there is a large foundation. In addition there is a small hole in the ground with cool air bowing out. It was blowing out enough cool air to provide relief from the hot sun while I visited.
