Homolovi Ruins State Park - Winslow, AZ - an Arizona State Park featuring the remains of ancient Hopi culture

The Hisat'sinom or Anasazi as archaeologists call them made their home on the Little Colorado River during the fourteenth century for a brief time before joining the people already on the mesas. These people are now known as the Hopi and continue to consider Homolovi to be their homeland. The Hopi still travel to the site to reconnect with the land telling us that the broken stones and pottery are part of the landscape creating the trail that will be followed by the Bahana when he comes back.

Homolovi has changed a great deal over the years since the Hopi settled in another portion of the world. Eventually new people arrived at Homolovi and began to destroy what was there so the Hopi decided it was time to protect the land. Part of this effort was to support the Homolovi Ruins State Park which turned out to be turning the area into a park during 1983 and then opening the park during 1993.

The Homolovi Ruins State Park which is at an elevation of almost 5,000 feet and over 4,000 acres big is now a center for researching the migration of the Hopi that occurred during the 1200's and 1300's. The park allows visitors to enjoy the sites and use the facilities as the study of the site allows archaeologists to learn more about Homolovi's history. Facilities at Homolovi Ruins State Park include various trails, a museum, visitor's center and a campground. There are also a number of covered picnic tables found around the park.

There are laws to protect everything found in the Homolovi Ruin State Park meaning that nothing in the park may be damaged or removed from the park. The penalty for performing these tasks in the park is a maximum fine of $150,000 or five years imprisonment. The rules governing the park and protecting the artifacts include the natural resources within the park. All pets within the park must be kept on a leash. Homolovi requires that there not be any loud noises deliberately made. Camping in the Homolovi Ruin State Park may only be done in designated areas with two vehicles and six people being the maximum allowed per site.

The visitor center at the Homolovi Ruins Visitor Center is open from 8am until 5pm to allow visitors access to the restrooms, gift shop and exhibits contained within the center. Restrooms are handicap accessible and can be found at the campground as well. The gift shop which is operated by the Arizona Archaeological Society's Homolovi Chapter offers books about the cultural and natural history of the northeastern portion of Arizona.

There are five designated hiking trails in the Homolovi Ruins State Park and horses may be ridden on the dirt roads in the park. It is not recommended that horse be ridden cross-country because of prairie dog towns being located in the area. There are also cougars, elk, porcupines, badgers and coyote in the area. In addition the park provides a view of several species of birds and raptors native to the area.