“Place of the little hills” is the traditional name for the Winslow area in the Hopi language….they call it Homolovi.

On Thursday, April 7 we make the short trip to the Homolovi State Park, just a few miles outside of Winslow.  First we head for the visitor center, but I’m not seeing any other visitors.  None.  The Ranger is there, and he takes my $7 for day use of the park, and hands me a map with an explanation of the park.  I ask specifically about dog rules and he tells me that they are allowed everywhere here, even in the buildings.  He says it gets too hot here to make them stay inside vehicles.  Makes perfect sense to me.

Oops.  Missed part of the H.

There are three major trails here, a small campground, and two areas open to the public where archaeologists have identified more than 300 sites.  They are called Homolovi I and Homolovi II. (at Homolovi II it’s estimated that there are between 1200 and 2000 rooms.) The other archaeological sites  are not open to the public.

The Hopi people today consider this area part of their homeland, but in an effort to protect these sites they support the idea of Homolovi State Park.  The park was established in 1986 and opened in 1993.  It serves as a center of research for the Hopi from the 1200’s to the late 1300’s.

In other words, this area is considered something like Holy Ground for the Hopi, because it is where many of their ancestors lived and died.  Less than 100 miles north is Second Mesa and the Hopi Reservation.

I didn’t know quite what to expect here.  What I found shocked me.

From what I could tell as we walked among the ancient homes, the sites have not been rebuilt like they have been at most places.  Usually rebuilding takes place to help recreate what we assume things looked like ‘back in the day.’  This area looks like the real thing, and the real thing only. (I’m not positive of this, but this is definitely an archaeological work in progress).

This was the most built up area that I saw.  Most were just an outline of stone on the ground.

The other area that seems very intact is a kiva.  It’s 6 feet deep and something like 17 x 12 feet.

This is the biggest Kiva that I’ve seen.  It would have been covered of course, and there are even built in airways.

But the biggest surprise to me is that there are pot-shards (pieces of broken pottery) all over the ground!

Many have been collected on just about every flat rock surface, and still more lie on the ground.

I had no idea that there was anywhere left in the USA where pot-shards were just lying around on the ground, in the open, unclaimed.

There are MANY signs to remind me that taking or destroying anything found here is a state AND federal offense.  And then I remember what I read in the information given to me: “The Hopi tell us that the broken pottery and stones are now part of the land and are the trail the Bahana will follow when he returns.”

“Take only pictures.  Leave only footprints.”

I’ve never seen anything like this….or felt anything like this.  The presence of the people is so palpable….they are all around me, I just can’t see them….

I always get that feeling when I visit these places, but here, even more-so.  It probably helps that the setting is perfect and there are no other visitors around, only Shiloh, Joy, and myself. There is complete silence.  The sun shines with no clouds, there are no trees, just the empty landscape as far as the eye can see.  The Little Colorado River flows by, shallow and brown.

It’s just us and the earth and the spirits of the old ones….

Eventually we walk back to JR and the dogs have a long drink of water before they settle in for the ride back to present time.  I drive through the quiet, mostly treeless campground and see that there is a camp host here. Not half the sites are occupied.   It’s $20 a night for electric hook-ups, and there is a bathroom with showers.  There is a dump station available.  The elevation here is 4900 feet and it makes quite a temperature difference from the 6300 feet where I’m staying, or the 7000+ feet at Flagstaff.  I would  very much like to camp here some day though, when the weather is cool.

As I write this, I’m wrapping up my pleasant stay here at Meteor Crater RV Park. Today we will move on to Williams, and do some more exploring before spending a few days at The Grand Canyon!