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Roy Kerckhoffs' Arizona Road Trip 2018 | Day 3, part 2
In early 2018 I went on a road trip in Arizona, driving from the Grand Canyon to Tucson, with stops at Monument Valley, Sedona, and Jerome
Wednesday Afternoon
There was a mix of rain and snow coming down on my way from Sedona to Jerome. I followed a windy road up the hillside of Cleopatra Hill. Jerome was founded in the late 19th century on this hill, mainly because of the discovery of high deposits of copper ore. At some point in history, the town had over 10,000 inhabitants. Now, the town is a National Historic Landmark.
First I parked my van in a parking lot at the entrance of the town. The skies were full of low clouds. As the town is built on a hillside it exhibits beautiful views from almost any point of the Verde Valley below and the mountain range of Red Rock State Park on the horizon.
From where I was standing I also had a good view of the town itself and took some shots.
I hopped back in the van and drove further into town and parked it at the side of the road. Nowadays the population is around 500. When the last mine shut down in the 1950’s, the population was below 100. That’s when the town became known as a ghost town. The many vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, and galleries are a clue that currently the town is a thriving tourist destination. Jeromes’s Official Visitor Center is a tiny little cabin.
After I had lunch I walked around more and took some photos of old buildings which included the Holy Family Church and remnants of the Bartlett hotel (which had some odd toilet exhibition in which people try to throw coins).
At an art show, I was once told that Jerome is also the host town of a Volkswagen bus gathering, so I may come back here one day and see that too.
Now it was time for me to head further south. My end goal was Tucson and Saguaro National Park. That was a little too far of a drive at this time of day so I drove to Phoenix first instead - which was about 2 hours - to spend the night. On the way there I already spotted Saguaros everywhere on the side of the freeway when I was approaching Phoenix and was looking forward to tomorrow.