After finishing my quest to visit every craft brewery in the state almost a decade ago, I usually rush to stay “completed” when new ones open. But these two opened during the height of covid and we decided to stay away for a bit. They sorta just sat on the back burner for awhile after that, always mentioned as a weekend option, but never quite making the cut for some reason.

Anyway, it was time to get them done, especially since this was one of the few campgrounds with availability after we got back from our big 100-day adventure. And as an added bonus, Jen would mark off Dead Horse Ranch, and we’d both be able to mark off Rockin’ River Ranch, a recently-opened state park not far away.

I also picked up a culture pass¹ for Arcosanti and made a tour reservation for our drive home on Sunday. So we’d finally be able to get that done for Jen’s Culture Pass quest. So while it might not be the most exciting of weekend trips, it was shaping up to be a productive one.

Friday night

We headed north after work on Friday, arriving around sunset to set up camp², then drove a couple miles into Cottonwood to grab dinner at Belfry Brewing. We ordered the two IPAs on tap, which (as expected) weren’t very good. But dinner was surprisingly excellent. We split a Detroit-style pepperoni pizza, and I added a caesar side salad too. We thoroughly enjoyed both and decided we’d return the following night for more—and this time, arrive a bit earlier to enjoy the live music that ends at 7pm. It was back to the campsite after that to enjoy the campfire for a bit before heading to bed.

Saturday

The following morning, we grabbed a quick coffee and breakfast on our way to Rockin’ River Ranch State Park, Arizona’s newest state park which opened last year. It’s been quite some time since I’ve marked off a state park on my Arizona State Parks quest, so it’d be good to get this one done while we were in the area.

As expected, the park isn’t especially interesting. A former working ranch, the land was acquired almost two decades ago, languishing under budget constraints and awaiting a plan for park development (and hopefully, more restoration) for most of that time. And you can see that in the visitor experience today.

The park includes about a mile stretch of the Verde River, with a handful of short trails and an interior that very much feels like an exhausted old ranch. We wandered the two trails close to the river, then moved along, confident that we’d never need to return (especially considering the $20 entrance fee). It’s really unfortunate that Arizona hasn’t invested better in its state park system, relying instead on nearby federal lands to bring in the tourism dollars.

Back at the car, we considered hitting Fort Verde State Historic Park or Jerome State Park to mark off another park for Jen, but in looking at the time, decided that it was best to head back towards Cottonwood instead—we wanted to visit Smelter Town Brewing, drive back to our campsite and possibly walk 2 miles to Belfry to get a seat and enjoy the live music, which starts at 4pm.

Smelter Town wasn’t quite open yet, so we decided to stop by the Clarkdale Historical Society Museum, a small building that overlooked the smelter that gave rise to the town. The museum isn’t much, but was worth a quick visit (I’d recommend pairing it with a stop at Jerome State Park too, which recounts the copper mine that led to the smelter). As we departed, we mentioned that we were heading next to Smelter Town Brewing, to which the docent smiled and said, “oh yeah, that’s the best thing in Clarkdale.”

Smelter Town Brewing is on the ground floor of a small historic hotel building, which still rents out rooms. We parked down the block and enjoyed passing some interesting brickwork and signs on our way there.

We arrived less than 30 mins after they had opened for the day and found only two empty seats anywhere inside. Apparently the docent’s assessment was correct. We wedged our way into a corner of the bar, spilling out into the walkway, and enjoyed a couple of pints each while we strategized about our travel options if Jen’s work schedule changed substantially. Per our tradition, we swapped glasses halfway through so we could each try all four brews we ordered.

The beer was certainly better than Belfry, but didn’t quite live up to the surprisingly lofty Untappd ratings I had seen. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our time there and would return.

From there we made our way back to Belfry, grabbed a table, ordered another pizza and salad (and a lackluster mushroom risotto), listened to the music (bleh, which was mostly country as opposed to the rock that had been played the night before). We eventually made our way back to the campsite for the night, enjoying some campfire time before snuggling into our respective sleeping bags.

Sunday

Sunday’s drive home would feature a tour of Arcosanti, an “urban experiment in arcology³” that is probably best described as an ecotopian hippie commune.

If you live in Phoenix, you’ve undoubtedly driven past the turnoff sign on I-17, perhaps wondering what it was. Or you knew someone who had bought their (semi-famous? locally famous? I’m not sure) wind chimes. Anyway, it’s an interesting—if far-fetched—story and experiment in rethinking how we could design small communities, and worthy of a stop at some point. Preferably using a free Culture Pass.

The site is adjacent to Agua Fria National Monument, so I had collaborated with residents there on related public lands and water issues, visiting the site a number of times for meetings and such. But Jen hadn’t been there yet and needed it for her Culture Pass quest, and this was a great time to get it done.

We got an email alert on Saturday that high winds were expected during our 11am tour—look, it’s always windy out on those mesas—and that we could come earlier for the 9:30am tour instead, or risk the elements and possible cancellation. We opted to keep the original time, and the winds weren’t a problem. I was surprised at how well attended the tour was, though several people clearly showed up with big cameras just to take photos.

Because of the tour time, we arrived home a bit earlier than we normally would, which gave us a chance to organize an afternoon get together with friends at our local brewery, which had a new beer release we wanted to try.

A quality weekend away

All in all, it was a relaxing and productive weekend away. We felt a bit out of sorts camping for the first time since the fall (our various systems are still in a bit of disarray), but I’m sure that’ll change soon—we have long weekend trips planned for the next month or so.

I’m hoping to get back to more regularly posting about our adventures, both big and small—but no promises.

1. Culture Passes are free admission tickets for two people to select cultural attractions around the state that you “check out” from the local library. ︎
2. I somewhat infamously rarely get to camp before sundown, so Jen usually doesn’t see where we’re camping until the sun comes up the next morning. Well, this time, we arrived just in time to get the tent up before sunset. ︎
3. Arcology “is a field of creating architectural design principles for very densely populated and ecologically low-impact human habitats,” according to wikipedia. ︎

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That’s not particularly surprising. There are a wide variety of land management agencies at the national, state, and local level—each of which have different purposes, rules, and fees. Unless you’re really paying attention, it’s easy to get confused.

If you’re inclined to buy an annual park pass—which I hope you’ll consider doing—it’s important to understand what you’re getting. I’m using metro Phoenix as the example here, so your local passes may vary.

So in the interest of clarity, here’s a quick rundown:

Maricopa County Parks

This includes just the 10 or so regional parks in Maricopa County, Arizona. The big question is whether or not you’ll be boating at Lake Pleasant—there’s one annual pass for the lake, and a separate one for the rest of the parks. Other counties or metro areas may or may not have their own park systems and annual passes.

Arizona State Parks

This includes the state parks that are still open. Again, you’ll need to decide if you’ll be doing a lot of boating. The standard pass doesn’t include the river parks on weekends (Friday-Sunday) or holidays, while the premier pass does. All states have a state park system, but their rules for annual passes varies.

Arizona State Trust Lands

This includes state trust lands (which are not considered public lands) and is actually a permit, so be sure to read the fine print as they include some important restrictions. You won’t find any visitor services here. Most Western states have their own systems of state trust lands; their primary purpose is not recreation, so don’t expect park-like amenities or rules.

Federal lands

This includes National Parks, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, and Bureau of Land Management lands where you pay an entrance fee. If it has the word “national” in the name of the area, it probably fits under this heading. There’s a single pass called the America the Beautiful: the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass that is supposed to cover entrance fees for all of these.

A very important note here. Some National Forests, including several in Arizona, now exclude some very popular fee areas from being covered by this pass. They call some of these sites with “enhanced amenities” and others are technically operated by a private permittee or concessionaire, but you and I might not notice the difference. Yes, this is total bullshit that’s still a better-than-nothing attempt to deal with the inadequate budgets Congress appropriates for our public lands. These areas also often have their own local Forest pass (Tonto Pass, Red Rock Pass or Grand Red Rock Pass, and the Coronado Pass are Arizona examples) with daily and annual options which vary with each national forest.

You can also get a highly reduced or free pass if you are:

• disabled
• at least 62 years old
• a 4th grader
• in the military or a dependent of someone who is
• a federal public lands volunteer

A few additional tips

• You can usually buy these pass at any staffed entrance station or visitor center.
• Many places have annual passes for a specific park location.
• These passes usually admit a carload but don’t cover any additional fees—like camping or tour fees.
• Areas managed by a concessionaire aren’t covered in the federal pass, even for basic things like parking or entrance fees.

Speaking of park passes, don’t you think we should have an America the Beautiful pass for kids?

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In my defense, I’m not a boater and have thus avoided water-related parks, and my national park quest has kept me plenty busy. Nonetheless, several state parks have been on “to-see” list for quite some time. In particular, I’ve unsuccessfully tried to schedule daytrips to the Yuma parks, Riordan Mansion, and the Patagonia/Sonoita Creek area. Having recently taken up kayaking, I also thought I’d get to a few more of the state parks to do some paddling. I guess I’d better hurry the hell up.

UPDATE: I’ve since officially adopted a quest to visit all the Arizona State Parks.

Arizona State Parks I’ve visited:

• Boyce Thompson Arboretum
• Catalina
• Fort Verde
• Homolovi Ruins
• Jerome
• Kartchner Caverns
• Lost Dutchman
• McFarland
• Picacho Peak
• Red Rock
• Slide Rock
• Tonto Natural Bridge
• Tubac Presidio

I would be hard pressed to choose my favorite Arizona state park. It might be Lost Dutchman, simply because the front range of the Superstitions hold such personal meaning to me. Picacho Peak is also on that list—even though I’ve only been to the park once, it’s been a constant and important landmark (the way Chimney Rock was to Oregon Trail travelers). I’ve been to most all of the national park caves, and Kartchner Caverns truly is world-class. I have a ton of great childhood memories of Tonto Natural Bridge. Hmm, tough call.

Favorite state park: (tie) Tonto Natural Bridge/Kartchner Caverns/Lost Dutchman
Most surprising state park: Homolovi
Last state park visited: Catalina

Out of state parks

In our roadtrip travels, we’ve also hit quite a few out of state parks. I’d have to do some research to list them all, but I’m guess there’s at least another forty or fifty or so (including more than 20 in California alone).

Favorite out of state park:  (tie) Big Basin (California), Custer (South Dakota)
Most surprising out of state park: (tie) Louisiana Purchase (Arkansas), Oregon Trail Ruts (Wyoming)
Last out of state park visited:  Poverty Point (Louisiana)

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