Storm Over Arizona’s Verde Valley

Although I’m working today in our photography studio at Studios on Park in Paso Robles, California, I wanted to post two more images I worked up from my trip to the spectacular Prescott, Arizona, area. For more detailed information and photographs, please read my prior post Ruins of the Arizona Verde Valley. 

As mentioned before, many people are familiar with ancient Native American ruins such as Mesa Verde in Colorado; Chaco Canyon in New Mexico; and Canyon de Chelly in northeast Arizona. However, few are aware of three wonderful ancient sites near the towns of Jerome, Clarkdale, Sedona, and Camp Verde: Tuzigoot National Monument, Montezuma Castle National Monument, and Montezuma Well.

Storm Over Tuzigoot Ruins

These images were two of many taken during a thunderstorm from atop Tuzigoot National Monument, just east of the charming small town of Clarkdale, Arizona. The Tuzigoot ruins sit proudly on a hilltop overlooking the spectacular Verde Valley in the high desert not far from the historic ghost mining town of Jerome. In the image below, you can see Jerome in the distance, along with the old quarry. For more information and photographs of Jerome, please see my prior blog post The Historic Ghost Town of Jerome.

Storm Over Jerome

I was very fortunate that a huge storm rolled in while visiting Tuzigoot, as the cloud formations and lighting that afternoon were spectacular. The views from atop the hill were simply stunning. I highly recommend visiting Arizona’s Verde Valley if you are in the Jerome or Sedona area.