Roger Naylor, an Arizona travel author, spent years roaming the Grand Canyon State, recording his experiences — and craving to see more.
Naylor released multiple books and wrote for various publications. This year, he’s premiered his latest title, “Arizona’s National Parks and Monuments,” cataloging all 34 national park units.
The book covers the parks, their history, amenities, road conditions, campground information, hiking trails, biking trails, pet restrictions and boat restrictions.
To push “Arizona’s National Parks and Monuments,” Naylor is touring the state, including an appearance from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Cave Creek Museum, 6140 E. Skyline Drive, Cave Creek.
“I like to get out and encourage people to see all these incredible sights in our backyard,” Naylor said, reflecting on his past books.
“I did one book on Death Valley, but all the other books have been on Arizona. The latest was about national parks, but I’ve also written the books ‘Arizona State Parks,’ ‘Arizona’s Scenic Roads and Hikes,’ ‘Awesome Arizona: 200 Amazing Facts about the Grand Canyon State,’ ‘Arizona Kicks on Route 66,’ ‘The Amazing Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon’ and so forth.
“Because I’ve been doing this for so long, I’m fairly knowledgeable about Arizona. I know the locations, the parks, the landscape and much of the history — yet I’m constantly surprised. I’m constantly learning new facts. I’m constantly amazed by some facet of some little layer of history that I wasn’t aware of. A new story pops up, so it never gets old or boring. With my latest book, it’s such a wonderful combination. There are so many parks that are accessible and easy to go to.”
Writing has always been a constant in Naylor’s life. He started at 13, after reading the works of Mark Twain.
“I would laugh so hard and then become outraged,” Naylor said. “He ran me through the gamut of emotions just from his words on a page. That was a pretty eye-opening experience for me as a kid. I knew right away that’s what I wanted to do.”
As a Cincinnati, native, Naylor needed a change. In 1975, he moved to Arizona and studied at Northern Arizona University. However, Naylor became so enamored with the landscape that he needed further change.
“I went briefly to Northern Arizona University but fell too much in love with Arizona,” Naylor said. “I dropped out of college after a year and just began writing about this remarkable state. I’ve been doing that pretty much my entire adult life. For nearly 25 years, I’ve made a living entirely as an Arizona travel writer and author.”
Naylor said that “Arizona’s National Parks and Monuments” is a culmination of work that looks at his past experiences and hones it into something readers can easily approach. Another motivation for him to write the book was to “demystify the whole national park experience.”
“I think for some people, there’s a little bit of intimidation about being at a national park,” Naylor said. “They feel like, ‘Well, we need a couple of vacation days or a long weekend or something before we go to a national park.’ Certainly, you can do that, but at the same time, dozens of parks are just perfect little day trips. For example, I live in the Verde Valley, in Cottonwood.
“So, just a few miles from my house are Tuzigoot National Monument and the great Sinagua Pueblo that’s been protected, preserved and restored. It’s a little easy walking path around there. Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well are also just down the road there at Camp Verde, and there are more national monuments in Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon, Waupake and Sunset Crater. They’re just an hour away. At each of those, you could spend two, three or four hours.”
Naylor explained that despite getting older, he wants to challenge himself. His plans for new works include updating his book “Boots and Burgers” and tackling a fictional story set in Jerome. People looking to try his books visit his website rogernaylor.com, Amazon or retail stores. They can also sign up for his monthly newsletter.
“I’m just happy to be an Arizona ambassador,” Naylor said. “This is a state that saved my life 50 years ago. I’ve been madly, passionately in love with it ever since. I just like sharing that.
“I once thought, ‘You know, I’m going to be a flannel-shirted mountain man and love all this.’ I never in a million years expected to become a desert rat. Now, there’s nothing I love more than hiking down among the saguaros through the heat and the rattlesnakes. I’m completely under the desert spell.”
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