Avoiding the Crowds
About 950,000 people visit the park each year, in part because it is so convenient for cross-country travelers, just a few hundred yards off I-40. Virtually everyone heads down the same 28-mile scenic drive, and the drive's 20 pullouts can get crowded.
Michele M. Hellickson, the park's superintendent, offers three suggestions for avoiding the crowds. First, arrive early in the day. "There aren't many visitors in the first few hours," she says. "It's also before the heat of the day, and the lighting on the rocks is spectacular." Second, stroll away from the parking areas. "Where there are pullouts, there are going to be people," Hellickson says. "But if you park at some of the pullouts and walk the length of the trails, you'll soon be away from the crowds. This will give you a chance to sit and hear the sounds of the desert and maybe get a picture that's different from everyone else/s." Third, day-hike into the Painted Desert Wilderness. "That's the instant answer," says Hellickson. "I think it's relatively easy to do in this terrain. It's a landscape that lends itself to going out and exploring, with less fear involved."
Seasons
With an average of just 9.65 inches of precipitation annually, the park couldn't get much drier. Because it averages a lofty 5,400 feet in elevation, however, it's not as hot as many other desert areas. Even in July, daily highs average in the mid-80s, with nightly lows in the low 50s. Of course, the park occasionally heats up--temperatures in the 100s are not unusual in midsummer. The hottest months, July and August, are also the wettest, with afternoon monsoons cutting the morning heat and depositing nearly a third of the yearly precipitation. These storms continue into early fall, but the weather dries out as it cools. By winter it can get very cold, and snowstorms occasionally close the park. In January, daily highs average 42°F and lows 19°F. Spring tends to be blustery and dry, with daily highs increasing from the mid-50s in March to about 80°F in June--the driest month of all, with just 0.33 inch of rainfall.
Special Events
During March, special events for Arizona Archeology Month are scheduled. Call the park office for details.
For 10 days before and after the June 21 summer solstice, rangers meet from 8 to 10am daily with visitors at Puerco Pueblo. The sun shines through a natural crack directing a beam of light onto a smaller boulder beside it. This beam gradually moves down the edge of the rock to a small circular petroglyph. On the summer solstice the beam is perfectly outlined by a pecked line. Archaeologists believe the Ancestral Puebloans used this petroglyph to monitor the summer solstice.
