Bedrock City

 

Across the US Highway 80 from the gift shop we stopped at in Williams, Arizona, on our return bus trip to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon was a cartoon stopover called Flintstones Bedrock City.

Good ol’ raggedy-skin and blue-tie clad Fred stood there beckoning to us. “C’mon over and stay the night!” he seemed to implore. Perhaps if I were driving and tired, I might have taken him up on his offer. But we had only a few minutes to wander around the “authentic Indian souvenirs” touted by the tour bus driver, and running across the street to take pictures didn’t seem like a safe thing to do.

So all I did was stand on our side of the highway and snap some pictures for the memory.

Apparently this is America’s second Bedrock City, the first being in Cluster, South Dakota. From what I could see, they have a campground, a Fred’s Diner, and a gift shop accessible from near the entrance to the attraction. I did a little research and found there’s an admission fee to get into the place – $6. Reasonable, I suppose.

They used to feature a real live Fred and Barney, but that didn’t work out. Inside are a general store, police station, post office, jail, beauty parlor and a bunch of homes, all painted in bright prehistoric colors.

There’s a Fredmobile tram, a volcano, a theater that plays Flintstones cartoons, Flintstone photo cutouts, a life-size dinosaur steam shovel and Fred’s foot-powered automobile.

If you want to visit, it’s open daily from 6 a.m. to sunset during the summer. Winter hours are 7 a.m. to sunset, but it may change, so my research source advises you to call and verify – (928) 635-2600.

Yabba dabba doo!