Fun,Traveling, Explorations, Excitement and educational travel blogs !
Mt.Hopkins, a place to observe the stars and galaxies!#184 scenic drive
Warning:this road up is very steep, dangerous to drive on windy days with a lot of turns, people may come down this road as you are going up, not much room to pass, so I am warning those who decide to go up, if you are scared of heights, do not do this drive alone or at all! Please use caution when going up! Also, I believe due to Covid, the observatory at the top may be closed.Here, you will see very large telescopes on the right side of the road as you continue your drive up. The reviews are all good on the bus tours (when they have them)The Fred Lawrence Whipple observatory Is both at the rim and at the peak. It has some giant telescopes and is closed I believe., we spotted a picnic area you can park close by it on right side, at the rim that may have a walking trail as well.Not sure if this trail is open. You can see the Fred Lawerence Whipple observatory at the top, Elevation is 8,553 . Named after Gilbert Hopkins who died at The battle of Ft.Buchanan in 1865. That battle was part of the Apache wars, and this was the only battle won by the Apaches. Ft. Buchanan was the only United States military post that was conquered by Apaches. The landscape is beautiful and has some off-road trails if you want to be adventurous!The road is smooth and you won’t encounter any large rocks or problems.This is the only barrier along the sides of the road up.Since, I love astronomy and I am sure some of you do, this is a great spot to check out, take photos and enjoy.
Due to my fear of heights, we did not go all the way up! But driving down we pulled over to this spot, a trail with information along and it even had cement benches!
All kinds of great information from what animals live there to astronomy information!
The observatories are usually open Monday-Friday from 8:30-4:30 P.M., but like I said I do not know if they are open since we just basically drove up some of the road!
Desertexplorations.com 
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