Wupatki National Monument

uintahiker

Adventure Guru
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
719
I'm slowly trying to catch up with posts from my recent trip. As usual, crossposted from my blog.

After we left the Grand Canyon, we drove south on Highway 89 toward Flagstaff. Several miles north of town, we turned east into Wupatki National Monument. Wupatki was created to preserve numerous pueblos from excavation and being destroyed in the early 1900's. I absolutely love Wupatki! It's quite easily the best national monument in the Flagstaff area. Our first stop was at the Lomaki Ruins.

The short hike at Lomaki is about 1/2 mile long (round trip) and goes past 3 ruins, although several more can be seen on the surrounding hilltops. The ruins here are built along the high banks of an eroded wash. The inhabitants built the ruins and also numerous dams in the wash to hold back water from the rains to keep it from running off, allowing them to grow crops and water small fields.

We saw numerous collared lizards, in late May, such as this one who happened to know where the boundary was to prevent two little kids from chasing him.

The largest ruin at Lomaki is right on the edge of a large wash, with cliffs about 10-15 feet down to the bottom of the wash.

It is pretty well preserved, with numerous walls still standing, as well as some windows and doorways to peek through.

The San Francisco Mountains off to the southwest of Lomaki contain Mt Humphrey, the highest peak in Arizona at over 12,000 feet. Signs at the trailhead indicate leaving pottery and other artifacts where they lay, but we didn't see any at the Lomaki Ruins.

Our next stop was a 1/2 mile up the road at the Citadel. The citadel was built on top of a basalt outcropping cap, where the surrounding areas had eroded away, leaving it alone and very much a citadel. We saw several pottery shards along the trail to the top.

The walls at the Citadel are a mix of sandstone and basalt, and are pretty imposing. We climbed the short hike to the top, enjoyed the view, then continued on our way.

Our next stop was at the Wupatki Ruins and the visitor center. Wupatki Ruin is the largest in the national monument, and also the most developed and regulated. It's behind the visitor center and contains numerous rooms.

The ruin here was built among a jumble of boulders and has rooms built against and top of the rocks. Everything is cordoned off, so it's best to view from a distance.

The end of the trail at Wupatki goes past a ball court to a blowhole, where essentially a cavity in the rock, basically a cave that's too small to crawl into, is located. The blowhole was putting out cold air when we were there. It was fun to sit next to it and put our hands over the opening to feel the cool air coming out.

Our final stop at Wupatki was Wukoki ruin. It's a few miles east of the visitor center and is another ruin that's definitely worth visiting.

Wukoki is built on a large sandstone boulder. The ruin and the courtyard cover the entire top of the boulder. Large walls rise from the east side, forming several rooms. It's a short hike from the parking area and is well worth your time. We went up into the ruin, as well as encircling the outside of it on a small footpath.

I noticed this small arrowhead about 2 feet off of the path. It was very well and delicately worked. I left it where it is for other sharp-eyed visitors to spy.

Inside the ruins on top, the walls rise up and up, somewhat reminding me of the ruins at Chaco Canyon.

We saw several small pottery shards outside Wukoki.

All in all, we really really liked Wupatki. It's a great National Park to visit with young kids- none of the trails are long, there's plenty to see and do along the way, and they learn a ton while there. Even better is that it's not crowded like the Grand Canyon or Walnut Canyon.

Featured image for homepage:
slide.jpg
 
One of my favorite places to visit.
Nice pics.
 
Really nice pics.
I been there in 1996.
Good memories.

Sent from my SCH-I110 using Tapatalk 2
 
We visited in the early eighties, they had a backpacking tour at the time you could sign up for that took you to some remote ruins. We had reservations one year but got rained/snowed out. I wonder if the rangers still provide that service.
 
We visited in the early eighties, they had a backpacking tour at the time you could sign up for that took you to some remote ruins. We had reservations one year but got rained/snowed out. I wonder if the rangers still provide that service.

I think that's the crack in the wall /crack in the rock hike. It looked pretty fun to me, but they only offer the trip in the spring and fall.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
TheMountainRabbit News Release: Yellowstone National Park increases protection for bears and visitor safety by implementing changes to two bear management areas General Discussion 14
scatman The Gallatin River, Bighorn and Fawn Passes, Yellowstone National Park - September 7, 2023 Backpacking 14
futurafree government shutdown effects on national forests? General Discussion 21
BJett Packrafting the Obed National Wild & Scenic River - Tennessee On The Water 1
fossana New Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni National Monument General Discussion 4
J York Fire, Mojave National Preserve. Aug 2023 Resource Discussions 3
Janice Field Trip - Washington Post podcast about national parks General Discussion 0
I Rescue Creek - Yellowstone National Park - June 3, 2023 Backpacking 15
scatman Rescue Creek - Yellowstone National Park - June 3, 2023 Backpacking 56
TractorDoc Cuyahoga Valley National Park (again!) 06/04/2023 Hiking & Camping 6
TractorDoc Cuyahoga Valley National Park 05/28/2023 Hiking & Camping 20
scatman Rescue Creek - Yellowstone National Park Meet Up (Members Only) 19
D Need suggestions -Beaverhead-Deerlodge National forrest, and Phillipsburg, MT Trip Planning 5
Ted California couple killed in Yosemite National Park rockslide identified by park officials General Discussion 0
NorthwestWanderer Backpacking Grand Teton National Park : Fossil Pass,Fox Creek Pass,Indian Lake,Alaska Basin,Hurricane Pass,Ice Floe Lake,& Snowdrift Lake Backpacking 19
fossana New National Monument planned in Southern NV General Discussion 3
canadug Hiker death in Zion National park :( Hiking & Camping 32
F Frontenac National Park, Quebec, Canada Hiking & Camping 2
J Mojave National Preserve Monsoon Aug. 3, 2022 Trip Planning 2
scatman Shoshone Lake Lollipop Loop - Yellowstone National Park - July 24, 2022 Backpacking 63
Absarokanaut Flooding in Yellowstone National Park and Adjacent Areas of Montana Today June 13, 2022 General Discussion 82
Dreamer El Yunque National Forest Hiking & Camping 3
Rockskipper pay-for-bot-scanning services for National Park campsites - interesting comments General Discussion 1
BJett Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area Packraft/Backpack Loop (TN) Backpacking 6
norwegianxplorer 7 days backpacking Breheimen/Glacier Home National Park in Norway Backpacking 2
pstm13 Rocky Mountain National Park Mid June with Kids Trip Planning 7
pstm13 Rocky Mountain National Park Mid June with Kids Trip Planning 0
Rockskipper Application Period Open For 2023 Private River Trips Through Grand Canyon National Park General Discussion 0
norwegianxplorer Backpacking SAREK NATIONAL PARK, Arctic Sweden, Camping Above RAPADALEN delta. Backpacking 7
balzaccom SAR in our national parks Trip Planning 8
S Mentasta Mountains, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve- family backpack Backpacking 1
Tim Valentine Point Reyes National Seashore December 2021 Hiking & Camping 14
scatman Grizzly Lake - Yellowstone National Park - September - 2022 Meet Up (Members Only) 149
norwegianxplorer Finding Hidden Glacier, 9 days backpacking Jotunheimen National Park Pt3, Norway. Trip Reports 0
P A short hike on the AT in Shenandoah National Park Hiking & Camping 0
norwegianxplorer Highest Mountain in Norway, Galdhøpiggen, the start of a 9 day backpacking trip in Jotunheimen national park Backpacking 0
norwegianxplorer 5 days Backpacking Rondane National Park, Norway Backpacking 3
norwegianxplorer Backpacking Norway, Femundsmarka National Park Pt 3, Grand Scandinavian Hiking & Backpacking Tour Ep4 Backpacking 0
scatman Gneiss Creek Part 2 - Yellowstone National Park - September 18, 2021 Hiking & Camping 0
norwegianxplorer Backpacking Rogen Nature Reserve, Sweden & Femundsmarka National Park, Norway Pt2 Backpacking 2
scatman Hayden Valley Loop - Yellowstone National Park - September 17, 2021 Hiking & Camping 34
scatman North Pitchstone Trail, Headwaters of Ouzel Creek, Bechler River and Mr. Bubbles(?) - Yellowstone National Park - September 13, 2021 Backpacking 36
norwegianxplorer 10 days Backpacking Femundsmarka National Park and Rogen Nature Reserve, Norway and Sweden Backpacking 8
scatman Gneiss Creek - Yellowstone National Park - September 8, 2021 Backpacking 20
TeamJenkins17 2022 Teton Wilderness/Shoshone National Forest Trip Trip Planning 0
fossana CA statewide National Forest closure through 17 Sep General Discussion 1
scatman Snake River Lollipop Loop - Yellowstone National Park - August 8, 2021 Backpacking 45
kansas Good map of Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument? Trip Planning 5
chandlerwest Glacier National Park - June 2021 Hiking & Camping 8
J Death Valley National Park and Area Mountain Rambles Dec. 16-17, 2020 Hiking & Camping 0

Similar threads

Back
Top