Abandoned Places Along Interstate 40

Today I again ventured north from Sedona and went eastward on Interstate 40, stopping at two places which used to be points of interest, and in a sense, still are.  What I mean by this is that they've been abandoned by just about everyone except graffiti artists and explorers.  I'd say that I've fallen into the latter category.  The first used to be the Twin Arrows Trading Post.  Today, not only is the place largely covered with graffiti, but only one of the arrows remains.  In this pic, you can still see the base where the other arrow once was.

To my pleasant surprise, I was not the only recent visitor who had some Polish heritage.

This part of the former trading post was a cafe.

Here's the main part of the old trading post.

For more about what was the Twin Arrows Trading Post, go to TheRoute-66(dot)com, Atlas Obscura, Roadside America, The Dainty Squid and Never Quite Lost.  I would point out that the ruins shown above are on the south side of I-40.  On the north side is the Twin Arrows casino and resort.

After leaving the Twin Arrows area, drove eastward for about 12 miles to the ghost town of Two Guns.  The first thing you see as you get off the highway is this abandoned gas station, which has been thoroughly covered in graffiti.

If you walk about 300 feet southward from the former gas station, you'll reach the old "Cowboy" water tower, likewise covered in graffiti.

If you keep walking another 380 feet southward, you'll reach the old "Trapper" water tower, again covered in graffiti.  (These distances were determined by using the "measure distance" feature on GoogleMaps.)

This old swimming pool, with mostly graffitied surfaces, is pretty close to the second old water tower.

After seeing these places south of the old gas station, I returned to it and then walked westward to see this old stone house.  That's I-40 in the background.

Near this first stone house were some more stone structures, including some below ground level.  Somewhere in there might be the entrance to the Apache Death Cave, where 42 Apaches were reportedly killed by Navajo warriors.

Looking westward, I could see the Diablo Canyon Bridge, which used to be part of U.S. Route 66, and other abandoned buildings, including some off in the distance.  Again, I-40 is in the background.

For more about Two Guns, its history, and what happened at the Apache Death Cave, go to Greg Goodman Photographic Storytelling, Route Magazine, The Wave, Legends of America and KJZZ.

On my 2014 trip to this area, when I explored Petrified Forest National Park, I drove right by these two places, but this time, I stopped and smelled the roses, as the saying goes.