After leaving Hurricane, Utah, we drove 240 miles southwest to Flagstaff, Arizona. We took the more scenic and steep Highway 89A. Our new Ford F350 was very much up to the challenge.
We crossed the Navajo Bridge before joining Highway 89 south of Page, Arizona.
WALNUT CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT
Walnut Canyon, near Flagstaff, has a museum and a small visitor center atop a cliff. Many of the ancient dwellings were built around a U-shaped meander in the canyon, where the creek circles around three sides of a high rocky plateau, almost creating an 'island', and this region now forms the central focus of the national monument.
There were 273 steps down to the cliff dwellings. The sign said going down is optional, coming up is mandatory.
The Sinagua (a Spanish name for these people meaning without water) built their homes under limestone ledges, deep within the canyon, some time between 1125 and 1250 - taking advantage of the natural recesses in the limestone cliff walls which were eroded over time.
Some of the dwellings were quite large. They kind of look like town houses.
Walnut Canyon is about 350 feet deep.
The inhabitants left mysteriously around 1250.
ELDEN PUEBLO RUINS
Less than a mile from our RV Resort was a National Forest ancient site. This very large two story pueblo of about 65 rooms, is the largest in the area. It is a place where school children as well as the general public can gain an understanding of archaeology.
