Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Arizona

A 2-hour road trip to Sedona to do the Devil’s Bridge hike led my friends and me on an unplanned adventure. We hiked, then we had plans to visit Sedona’s Slide Rock State Park, but by the time we arrived, it was closed. So, then we drove through the 12-mile long bewildering Oak Creek Canyon with views of its eroded canyon enclosing drivers in with its narrow winding roads and a scenic view of pine trees. And then, we stumbled upon our way, unplanned completely, to Flagstaff to find Buffalo Park.

“We didn’t stop our adventurous souls from pursuing another adventure.”

My friends and I were disappointed to say, but it didn’t stop our adventurous souls from pursuing another adventure. Especially since driving through Route 89A, the highway in Oak Creek Canyon actually will connect you to the city of Flagstaff. Let’s not ignore the fact that Oak Creek Canyon is a view to witness though, especially knowing it lies on the Oak Creek Canyon Fault that formed from eight to ten million years ago.

Finding food can lead to another new place to discover.

Hungry and worn out from our hike and driving, we needed food so bad to refuel. I plugged in “Downtown Flagstaff” on the GPS since that’s where my parents and I would grab food whenever we came upon that area. Driving through there, my friends pointed out an Indian restaurant called India Palace (which, by the way, their food is exceptional!).

My friend Alex and I wanted to see a mountain on Flagstaff to witness the sunset while we grabbed our dinner. I googled some close by parks and saw “Buffalo Park” (7 minutes away from the Indian restaurant), but the photos did not appeal to me on the search engine as much until we actually visited that park. Photos sometimes do not do a place justice.

Buffalo Park is a breath of fresh air, literally.

We took our Indian food for takeout, parked our car, and we were welcomed by a buffalo statue that stood by the entrance of the park. Buffalo Park is a 215-acre park with a 2-mile hiking loop trail and it has an elevation at about 7,000 ft. It has a dirt road path with a scenic mountain view that pops in the background and it has picnic tables laid out.

Buffalo Park reserves this spot where an ancient lava once occurred on the flat of McMillan Mesa, according to Arizona Watch Wild Life.

Being here, you can feel that you are higher up because of the high elevation and the green forested mountains looking so close by, just peeping right in front of you. You’re surrounded by grass. And then, you suddenly remember you’re still in Arizona, not Colorado, not Montana, but the cold windy part of Arizona that many first-time tourists do not seem to always acknowledge.

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I really loved this park. I was able to breathe in that crisp mountain air and you can witness a lot of runners taking advantage of this park. It is a great park to do a run and I ran to wander by this meadow that appears green through these summer days. What a feeling. What a sunset. Oh, and what a great picnic area for us to eat this Indian food.

And as it got dark, the new group of park goers sat around the entrance to do some stargazing. Who wouldn’t?

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