Tag Archives: ruins

Arizona

Navajo National Monument

August 7, 2024 Raven About The Parks 5 Comments

Navajo National Monument

Arizona

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1909

360 acres

Website: nps.gov/nava

Overview

Navajo National Monument was created to protect the Keet Seel ruin on the Navajo Nation, although the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived here in the 1200s are more closely related to the Hopi and Zuni. Three years later, the ruins at Betatakin and Inscription House (closed to the public) were added to the National Monument. We had such a great visit that we had to add it to his list of Top 10 National Monuments.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Tsegi Point Overlook, museum, film, Sandal Trail, Keet Seel overnight trip

Must-Do Activity

During the pandemic, the National Park Service (NPS) closed all access to the ruins until 2023, but visitors can now reserve spots on the 20-person ranger-led backpacking trips to Keet Seel that are offered twice per month in the summer. This strenuous trip covers 17 miles total with numerous stream crossings and all water must be carried in. The hardest part is at the end, when a 1,000 foot climb awaits, but it is worth it to be one of the few who get to see Keet Seel, the 150-room ruin that is second in size only to Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park. You also get to eat lunch at a surprisingly large waterfall in Keet Seel Canyon. For those looking for a shorter five-mile trip with only 580 feet elevation change, weekend day hikes to Betatakin are led by park rangers (sign up the day before on a first-come, first-served basis).

Best Trail

From the NPS visitor center (which is actually on Navajo land outside the National Monument boundary), the paved Sandal Trail follows the canyon rim to an overlook of the Betatakin cliff dwelling. There are signs explaining the local plant species and their uses by indigenous people on the 1.3-mile out-and-back trail. The 0.8-mile roundtrip Aspen Trail and 0.8-mile Canyon View Trail also leave from the visitor center.

Photographic Opportunity

Outside the visitor center, a replica sweathouse and male hogan are on display, plus examples of three-toed dinosaur footprints left in the sandstone. Inside the visitor center, pottery and an example of a family dwelling are on display, plus a short introductory film is offered.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/nava/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Highway 564 is paved to the visitor center and Sunset View Campground, then a good dirt road leads to the Canyon View Campground and gated trailhead for ranger-led hikes to Betatakin and Keet Seel.

Camping

The free Sunset View Campground has running water and is one of the nicest campgrounds in the entire NPS system (now added to the Top 10 National Park Campgrounds with Running Water). There are vault toilets at Canyon View Campground, which is also free. Campers are limited to a total of seven nights per year at the campgrounds.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Arizona)

Walnut Canyon National Monument (Arizona)

Explore More – When was the large white fir tree added above the main entrance to Keet Seel cliff dwelling?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments

New Mexico

Gila National Forest

November 1, 2023 Raven About The Parks 8 Comments

Gila National Forest

New Mexico

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region

2,797,628 acres (2,710,659 federal/ 86,969 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/gila

Overview

Nearly 25% of Gila National Forest is designated Wilderness, and the renowned Gila Wilderness became the world’s first such-titled area on June 3, 1924. There are multiple hot springs that attract backpackers to this area and 95% of thru-hikers on the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) veer from the official route to enjoy its beauty. The nearby Aldo Leopold Wilderness is named for the Forest Service ranger that helped campaign for that designation and later became a famous ecologist and author of A Sand County Almanac (see our Top 10 Non-Fiction Books on Trees and Forests). In 2016, the Cosmic Campground became the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary in North America (and one of only 18 in the world), so it is a great spot for stargazing. Gila National Forest also manages the part of Arizona’s Apache National Forest that is in New Mexico, adding an additional 614,202 acres.

Highlights

Inner Loop Scenic Byway, Hulsey Lake, Cosmic Campground, Turkey Creek Hot Springs, Lake Roberts, Signal Peak, Quemado Lake, Chimney Rock Canyon, Jordan Hot Springs, Sawmill National Recreation Trail, Catwalk National Recreation Trail, Wood Haul Road National Recreation Trail, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

You do not have to journey far into the Gila Wilderness to reach Lightfeather Hot Springs on the Middle Fork Trail. Less than a mile down the trail a shallow pool is formed by stacked rocks where 150-degree hot springs water combines with the cool Middle Fork of the Gila River. It is a great place to watch and listen to wildlife. Seven miles further is Jordan Hot Springs, a very popular backpacking destination that requires countless stream crossings (it is best to wear fast-drying shoes and use trekking poles). The trailhead is located 43 miles north of Silver City on the Inner Loop Scenic Byway, not far from a visitor center co-managed by the Forest Service and National Park Service (that operates nearby Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument). The Gila Wilderness is the reason this National Forest made it on our list of the Top 10 National Forests for Backpacking.

Best Trail

The most popular spot in Gila National Forest is the Catwalk National Recreation Trail, which requires driving through two stream crossings that are doable by a passenger car when the water is low. The one-mile trail is partially elevated above Whitewater Creek on wide, steel grates complete with handrails. The Catwalk started in 1893 as a way for miners to service a four-inch water pipe, then fell into disrepair before being upgraded by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935. Today’s safer, tourist-friendly Catwalk was installed in 1961. This trail made our list of the Top 10 Day Hiking Trails in National Forests.

Watchable Wildlife

The Gila River gives its name to this National Forest, as well as animals like the venomous Gila monster, Gila woodpecker, and fish, including a trout, topminnow, and several species of chub. Mexican wolves have been reintroduced to this region, and other predators like mountain lions, bobcats, and black bears (we saw one and followed another’s wet footprints while backpacking near Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument). Unique mammals include the javelina (collared peccary), gray fox, white-nosed coatimundi, and Coues white-tailed deer. Mule deer, elk, pronghorns, and bighorn sheep are additional ungulates found in Gila National Forest. Large birds include roadrunners, Mexican spotted owls, bald eagles, ospreys, peregrine falcons, and wild turkeys. Most of our wildlife encounters were with reptiles like horned lizards (a.k.a. frogs or toads), western fence lizards, and rattlesnakes.

Instagram-worthy Photo

In May 2020, we did a 72-mile backpacking loop connecting the West Fork of the Gila River with the Middle Fork, through gorgeous canyons and old-growth forests protected as the Gila Wilderness since 1924.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

There is a parking fee at Catwalk National Recreation Trail (or you can display an America the Beautiful Pass), but some cars parked across the river to avoid paying.

Road Conditions

The eastern part of Inner Loop Scenic Byway is paved to the visitor center co-managed by the Forest Service and National Park Service, but the western portion is unpaved and has some steep grades not recommended for RVs. The unpaved road to Catwalk National Recreation Trail with its two stream crossings is doable with a passenger car when the water is low.

Camping

Cosmic Campground became the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary in North America (and one of only 14 in the world), so it is a great spot for stargazing. Pueblo Park Campground offers a trail through Chimney Rock Canyon and Upper End Campground is near 72-acre Lake Roberts. Cottonwood Campground is located near the Blue Range Wilderness on the Arizona border. In eastern Gila National Forest along Highway 152 are found both Upper Gallinas and Iron Creek Campgrounds. In the north, there are three campgrounds on 131-acre Quemado Lake and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail cuts through primitive Apache Creek Campground.

Wilderness Areas

Aldo Leopold Wilderness

Blue Range Wilderness

Gila Wilderness

Apache National Forest (Arizona-New Mexico)

Cibola National Forest (New Mexico)

Nearest National Park

White Sands

Conifer Tree Species

two-needle pinyon pine, ponderosa pine, Chihuahua pine, southwestern white pine, white fir, one-seed juniper

Flowering Tree Species

Gambel oak, gray oak, silverleaf oak, New Mexico locust, quaking aspen, narrowleaf cottonwood, Fremont cottonwood, Arizona alder, Arizona sycamore, Arizona walnut, boxelder, velvet ash, netleaf hackberry, mountain-mahogany, chokecherry

Explore More – Gila is a Spanish simplification of the Yuma word “hah-quah-sa-eel,” translated as what?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our new guidebook Out in the Woods

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Arizona

Coconino National Forest

December 7, 2022 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

Coconino National Forest

Arizona

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region

2,013,804 acres (1,855,955 federal/ 157,849 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/coconino/

Overview

Coconino National Forest has an elevation range of 10,000 feet from the Verde River up to 12,637-foot Mt. Humphreys, the highest point in Arizona. It borders four other National Forests: Kaibab, Prescott, Sitgreaves, and Tonto. The National Forest encompasses two busy recreational areas: the red rocks around Sedona and the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff. While in college for three years at Northern Arizona University, Scott probably hiked 100 different trails and more than 1,000 miles through Coconino National Forest. He and his Siberian husky would often wake up early to get a hike in before class, including one moonlit summiting of Mt. Humphreys completed in time for an 8 a.m. lecture. See where it ended up on our list of Top 10 Summit Trails in National Forests.

Highlights

Oak Creek Canyon, Bell Rock, Vultee Arch, Cathedral Rock, Sycamore Canyon, Honanki Ruins, Wet Beaver Creek, San Francisco Peaks, Mt. Humphreys, Lockett Meadow, Mt. Elden, West Clear Creek, Upper Lake Mary, West Fork Trail, Kachina Trail, Bear Jaw Canyon Trail, Dixon Lewis Trail

Must-Do Activity

North of Sedona is the deep, shady Oak Creek Canyon that houses a diversity of plant species, including riparian trees like sycamore and walnut. The steep, forested walls make for beautiful scenery, but also create ideal conditions for crown fires as evidenced in 2006 and 2014. The steep Wilson Mountain South Trail #10 provides extraordinary panoramas and the shady West Fork Trail #108 is perfect on hot summer days, though in the winter it is also beautiful covered in snow and ice. The remains of the historic lodge and orchard at the latter site provide a glimpse into the past of a place immortalized in Zane Grey’s novel The Call of the Canyon. Continue driving north up Highway 89A for unforgettable hairpin turns that lead to Oak Creek Vista and on to Flagstaff.

Best Trail

The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an extinct volcano that forms the dramatic mountain skyline north of Flagstaff. You cannot actually see the highest summit (12,637-foot Mt. Humphreys) from town, but you will if you drive Highway 180 toward Grand Canyon National Park. The shortest route to the top leaves from 8,800 feet at Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort and is nine miles roundtrip. For the more adventurous: start on the Inner Basin Trail from Lockett Meadow (now requires three-mile hike on closed road), hike 19 miles roundtrip via the Weatherford Trail, or tack on seven miles to Snowbowl on the scenic Kachina Trail. The San Francisco Peaks are beautiful (especially when aspen trees turn in the fall), but can be dangerous during thunderstorms that occur almost every afternoon during monsoon season. Nostalgia may have been a factor in naming this #1 on the list of Top 10 National Forests for Day Hiking.

Watchable Wildlife

Elk are the most prevalent charismatic megafauna in Coconino National Forest, although mule deer and pronghorns are also common. We have encountered black bears in the San Francisco Peaks and rattlesnakes in Sycamore Canyon. Tassel-eared squirrels are the noisiest residents of the ponderosa pine forests, enough so that Bertie the talking squirrel became the main character in the children’s book Scott illustrated while working for the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The cliff dwelling in Sedona’s Lost Canyon is in a beautiful spot overlooking a wide green valley that cuts between the red rock buttes and escarpments. There is water in this narrow canyon, feeding the tall Arizona cypress trees below. Just outside the cave, juniper trees offered firewood, pinyon pine produced edible nuts, and yucca plants provided thread for its former residents. To the north numerous canyons drain the ponderosa pine forests where elk and mule deer reside in the summer.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

A day-use fee applies at nearly every trailhead in Sedona, but an America the Beautiful pass can be substituted. A $6 online reservation per vehicle is required to park at Dixon Lewis (formerly Waterfall) Trail to Fossil Creek from April 1 to October 1.

Road Conditions

Most of the dirt roads through Coconino National Forest are well maintained, especially around Sedona. One exception to that is Woody Mountain Road that requires high-clearance once you get past the first 20 miles or so towards the Mogollon Rim above Sycamore Canyon.

Camping

Lockett Meadow Campground is special place that came in at #4 on our Top 10 Campgrounds in National Forests list. However, camping there now requires a three-mile hike up the road since it closed following the Pipeline Fire (which does mean you are more likely to get a campsite). The coveted campsites in Oak Creek Canyon on scenic Highway 89A are full throughout the summer and fall (online reservations available).

Wilderness Areas

Fossil Springs Wilderness

Kachina Peaks Wilderness

Kendrick Mountain Wilderness (also in Kaibab National Forest)

Mazatzal Wilderness (also in Tonto National Forest)

Munds Mountain Wilderness

Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness

Strawberry Crater Wilderness

Sycamore Canyon Wilderness (also in Prescott and Kaibab National Forests)

West Clear Creek Wilderness

Wet Beaver Wilderness

Montezuma Castle National Monument (Arizona)

Walnut Canyon National Monument (Arizona)

Nearest National Park

Petrified Forest

Conifer Tree Species

ponderosa pine, limber pine, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine, two-needle pinyon pine, Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, white fir, Engelmann spruce, alligator juniper, one-seed juniper, Utah juniper, Rocky Mountain juniper, Arizona cypress

Flowering Tree Species

Gambel oak, quaking aspen, New Mexico locust, boxelder, bigtooth maple, Arizona sycamore, Arizona walnut, Arizona alder, velvet ash

Explore More – What is largest natural lake in the state of Arizona, which is found atop Coconino National Forest’s Anderson Mesa (although it is often dried up in the summer)?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our travel guidebook Out in the Woods

New Mexico

El Morro National Monument

October 19, 2022 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

El Morro National Monument

New Mexico

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1906

1,278 acres

Website: nps.gov/elmo

Overview

A small pool of reliable water at the base of a sandstone bluff has attracted humans and animals for centuries in this arid region. Ancestral Puebloans built a village atop the 200-foot-tall mesa and Spanish explorers carved their names alongside petroglyphs at a place they dubbed “el morro” (the headland). Today, El Morro National Monument is located about 125 miles west of Albuquerque, about 42 miles off Interstate 40.

Highlights

Inscription Rock Trail, Atsinna Pueblo ruins, Mesa Top Trail

Must-Do Activity

The National Park Service visitor center offers a 15-minute film and the half-mile paved Inscription Rock Trail loop to view the carvings. Pick up a free guidebook that provides details on the earliest European inscriptions that date back to 1605 and the petroglyphs that may be around 1,000 years old.

Best Trail

The Mesa Top Trail loop climbs to the top of the bluff where there are Ancestral Puebloan ruins and great views of the volcanic El Malpais National Monument. The hike is about two miles roundtrip, with interesting steps carved into the soft sandstone in places. The trail may be closed during thunderstorms during the summer and after heavy snowfalls in the winter.

Instagram-worthy Photo

It is worth the short but steep climb to check out the ruins of Atsinna Pueblo (built in the late-1200s) atop the sandstone bluff.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/elmo/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The short entrance road is paved from Highway 53.

Camping

The small primitive campground at El Morro National Monument is open year round (except during snowstorms), plus there is a private RV park located near the entrance.

Related Sites

El Malpais National Monument (New Mexico)

Cibola National Forest (New Mexico)

Chaco Culture National Historical Park (New Mexico)

Explore More – Who were the first Anglo-Americans to inscribe their names at El Morro in 1849?

Arizona

Fort Bowie National Historic Site

December 14, 2021 Raven About The Parks 3 Comments

Overview

The spring at Apache Pass has attracted humans to this part of the Sonoran Desert for hundreds of years (at least). As you might have guessed from its name, the Apaches were the area’s inhabitants when the Butterfield Overland Mail route built a station here in 1858. Four years later, after Apaches ambushed the Union Army during the Civil War, they constructed Fort Bowie to help keep peace in New Mexico. The fort received an upgrade in 1868, and then was used to fight against Cochise and Geronimo until it was finally abandoned in 1894.

Highlights

Fort Bowie ruins, cemetery, stage station ruins, site of wagon train massacre

Must-Do Activity

To visit the National Park Service (NPS) visitor center, the literal “must-do activity” is to hike 1.5 miles from the trailhead. You do pass interpretive signs, a cemetery, and ruins along the way, plus you earn an “I Hike For Health” pin just by getting there. For those unable to hike the trail, contact the NPS for alternate access directions.

Best Trail

Getting to the NPS visitor center means hiking three miles roundtrip in a shadeless desert. If it is a nice day, make a loop of it by taking Overlook Ridge on the way back to the trailhead.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The post cemetery has freshly-painted wooden grave markers, including one for Geronimo’s two-year-old son.

Peak Season

Winter

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/fobo/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Access to this NPS site requires driving a graded dirt road that is impassable during flash floods.

Camping

Private campgrounds are available in Bowie and Wilcox, Arizona, but we recommend a night at the NPS campground in Chiricahua National Monument (which is well-known for its ringtail and coati sightings).

Related Sites

Chiricahua National Monument (Arizona)

Coronado National Memorial (Arizona)

Tumacacori National Historical Park (Arizona)

Explore More – When did Geronimo finally surrender to U.S. troops before being sent to Fort Bowie and on to Florida’s Fort Pickens (now part of Gulf Islands National Seashore)?

Navajo National Monument

Gila National Forest

Coconino National Forest

El Morro National Monument

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