It’s mystique adds to the ambiance, and it could be one of those best kept secret places. It is located on Navajo land in the Painted Desert, Arizona. We found the drive to get there as much as an adventure as the exploration. A note attached to a gate off the main road let us know specifics. You turn left between mileposts 5 and 6 on the unmarked dirt road after the big sign with nothing on it. The drive was a bumpy 9.2 miles to the falls.
Welcome to Chocolate Falls!
It was created from volcanic runoff, and at 181 feet, it is taller than Niagara Falls, and yet, it is completely dry sand most of the year. Seasonal rain and snow melt carry the muddy waters to the tiered falls and through the gorge below. The mucky riverbanks offer an invitation to play in mud puddles, and the falls create the perfect backdrop for rainbows. (Note the people on the left bank)
There is a half mile trail leading to the banks of the falls if you are willing to scramble down the slippery cliff. It is interesting to experience such a wonder in this close proximity especially when it is usually an arid and sandy wash.
The falls are loud crashing to the rocks below, and yet, there is a silence that speaks with serenity. I am curious if this was sacred ground to the Navajo. I am convinced that the river must carry stories of another time, and the wind whispers of their ancestral wisdom. I imagine what we see as mud brought fertile soil, the promise of water, and a spirituality that we want to understand.
I have been engulfed by this gift of nature and I am cloaked in the misty silt to prove it, but I am humbled by this beautiful place I also call home.
Take a look at quieter, gentler interpretation of today’s prompt with one of my favorite blogs, Dutch goes the Photo. Enjoy…. Cloaked in Silence.
Enjoy your weekend. Thanks for stopping by.
Donna
Wind Kisses 
Awesome falls, and especially so when your bottom pics include the person to provide perspective for how big they are. Perfect entries for this week’s photo challenge.
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Thanks Tom. Did you see the tiny specks of people in the rainbow photo? It’s an amazing place for sure.
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No, I missed them. Too busy admiring the horizon, I guess. 🙂
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WOW!!! That is an amazing location! Love these photos!
Frank
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Thank you. It only flows for about a month or two. Seems like a freak of nature when it’s actually exactly what nature does best. I love it there. Thanks again.
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This is pure deception. I read chocolate falls …and it was sand/mud falls.
Well. Awesome pictures. I love the rainbow one and the last one 🙂
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Lol, it is kinda Willy wonka(ish) . Only the locals call it Chocolate Falls. The maps call it Grand Falls, but that yanks the fun out of it for me. It’s such short “show”, a few months. I love it there. (PS. I brought chocolate 😩👈🏼).
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Thats what i thought.
I saw chocolate falls and i said ..yay natural willy wonka’s factory.
But then..
Well it looks miraculous 🙂
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What beautiful photos! It must be amazing to live there! You should be a travel agent…your photos would entice anyone to visit!
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Thank you Marie. I like to think myself as more of a docent, and I love that role. Most of my family lives on the east coast, so we get lots of company in the winter months as our temperatures are mild. I love planning trips specific to their personality. Not everyone loves wandering around like I do, so I get to try new stuff with them. One niece loves cupcakes so we explored cupcake places. Its always fun for me. IF you ever get this way, or anywhere in the US, let me know. I can try to point you in the right direction. And my price is the best deal in town. $0 🤗
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Donna, what a lovely role and I don’t doubt what a great job you make of it! I could see myself being quite good at the cupcake trail!! What a lovely welcoming offer to wake up to this morning and who knows what the future holds! Being Irish I’d have to haggle over your exorbitant fee though!!😉
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Thank you. hahaha. Yes… you can try..
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Awesome photos! Arizona looks like a great place for a photographer.
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We love living here. I actually do take myself on field trips just to take pictures. There is always something to do, and something unique to see. Thanks.
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Amazing!!! I had no idea there was such a place in Arizona… however I am certainly not surprised. I have never been in this part of the state. I’ve lived in southern Arizona (Tucson) for close to 40 years… and there is still a lot to see and do here. I may get up to that area some day… but so much to see… and only one lifetime! Thanks loads for these powerful images!
Galen
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Hi Galen, Yes, no shortage of things to do in Arizona thats for sure. It is a little harder for us to get to your neck of the woods too, but I love the Chiricahuas a few years ago. We need to get back there. Have a good weekend.
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Donna, your photos are astonishing. I agree with Tom’s comments. I will add that the rainbow capture was a tremendous piece of miraculous luck in a desert!! Beautiful!
Keep up these photo / journal stories and you may turn me into an Arizona fan. I’m a huge lover of green, cool, wet places and have generally shyed away from the hot desert 🌵
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Thanks Jane. I can relate, I wasn’t sure how I could handle the climate either, but a grand baby down here was the temptation. We have grown to appreciate this amazing desert oasis. Gardening was a challenge as you might gather at first, and I killed everything my first season because I watered it! Desert plants don’t need water. lol. Classes helped with that. I might have shared that with you already. I worked at the Oregon Garden for 4 years as a volunteer. You must go there from time to time. I miss that place.
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Oh yes, you have the best reason ever for the move. Having a grandchild is a blessing. ❤️I agree giving yourself time to acclimate to AZ is key. My nephew and sister in law live near Mesa, so we’ve only come to the SW for short stints… I’m always happy to return north…
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😊
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Amazing place… great post and photos, I really enjoyed it! 😃
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Thank you, it really is cool. I wish I could take everyone there with me. lol.
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Wow, that is really something! Must admit I’d not heard of it but it is so perfectly named! Loved your final capture, which really showed the scale perfectly!
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Thanks Tina. I am still trying to decide if the quality of the last photo was poor or just a look through the muddy mist. Regardless, it was necessary to share how large and how powerful the falls are. In the rainbow photo there are people on the left bank. That would be the same spot as that last photo. It is really a treat to experience this as it is by chance that we can see it. Thanks for stopping by.
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Wow, your photos and interpretation of scale are amazing, Donna!
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Thanks Terry. Very cool place.
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Love your blog and photos! We may be kindred spirits and my hubby and I get wind kissed all the time when we windsurf 🙂
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That was me….😉I look forward to staying in touch.
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What an amazing falls and well photographed. That overland trek reminds me of an unplanned visit to Bodie. We were heading back to LA in a hire car and saw the sign for Bodie. Took the metalled road but then it turned to a dirt track and we were beginning to wonder if we’d done the right thing. But in the end it was well worth the visit
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Thanks Mike. I didn’t know about Brodie…now I do. Sounds fun, and it’s the reason we have a Jeep. . Just go where the road takes us. We will have to detour there one day. Yes, Chocolate Falls is quite interesting and quite an excursion. Thank you…
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Hi Donna amazing photos and description, it is as if I experience something of what you experienced. And on the lighter side, it is chocolate ganache falls!
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Hahaha. Thanks for stopping by Abrie. Pretty sure if it was that yummy ganache I would have definitely gone swimming. It’s funny because as yummy as it looks, we came way so muddy. Caked ( no pun intended)in mud.All a part of the fun though.
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😁😁 caked with mud. I read that as pun intended
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Whoa, next time I go, I’ll ask my husband to take me here. I have a bit of an exploring heart and I love nature.
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Yes. Be reminded it only flows during the rainy season.
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True, we, people must be aware of floods. We lived in Albuquerque and the arroyos would flood when it rain. Yet, the dessert has it own beauty and dangers. God bless you.
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Oh me, it looks like a miracle. 😮 Magnificent. And what an apt name!
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It really is. We always joke about Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when we are there. It is so interesting. I am never really ready to leave when everyone else is.
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