Since it’s so easy to get there from Flagstaff, we decided to go to Barringer crater on our way to the Petrified forest.  Here is the plain between the San Francisco peaks and the crater (Flagstaff is behind those mountains).

You have to take the cheesy guided tour after going through the cheesy gift shop.  The crater is still privately owned.  They have all of the trappings of a national monument – which the crater is – but the people that look just like park rangers are not.  They are more like amusement park employees.  They want you to think they are the same as a national park, but it is a for-profit organization.  Nothing wrong with that, but it irked me that they would pretend to be something that they are not.

The crater is impressive and you should see it if you can, but I wouldn’t make a trip to Arizona just to see it.  You can’t walk around by yourself; you can only go on a short path with a gaggle of other people. There are no hikes to the bottom, at least not normally.

This is all that’s left of Barringer’s house.  He had a pretty good view.