Earth_Magazine_October_2017

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Another magnificent site that defies most people’s

image of Arizona scenery is Grand Falls, a Navajo

Nation park located on the Little Colorado River,

a 110-kilometer drive (the last 15 or so kilometers

on a bumpy, potentially four-wheel-drive dirt road)

from Flagstaff. Although bone-dry for months at a

time, the Little Colorado River’s flow can swell to

5,600 cubic meters per second following snowmelt

or monsoon rains. When this much water pours

over Grand Falls, it creates a roar and windblown

spray worthy of its nickname, the Desert Niagara.

This spectacle formed about 20,000 years ago

when basalt from Merriam Crater, a cinder cone

that you pass on the drive in, flowed more than

10 kilometers until it reached the gorge that the

Little Colorado had carved in the surrounding,

white limestone. The basalt filled this gorge and then

flowed down it another 33 kilometers before finally

stopping. This enormous plug acted like a dam,

diverting the river, which made an end run around

the basalt to plummet back into its old channel over

a 60-meter-high limestone cliff that had, just a short

time before, comprised part of its canyon wall. In a

short walk along the rim, you can see a perfect cross

section of the ancient limestone channel filled to the

brim with black basalt.

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In addition to making a great basecamp from

which to view the area’s volcanoes, Flagstaff itself

is a fun place to simply hang out. The cool climate

offers a welcome respite from the heat of the sur-

rounding lower elevations, and the downtown is

filled with a good selection of eateries and brewpubs.

It’s also a training center for many Olympic and

Olympic-hopeful runners and home to a fabulous

natural history museum, the Museum of North-

ern Arizona. Flagstaff has long been an important

transportation hub: In addition to its location on

Interstate 40, it’s also along historic Route 66 and a

major east-west railroad line. And the town’s visitor

center is housed in a 1926 train depot where Amtrak

passengers still alight.

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