Walnut Canyon Trip in Flagstaff, AZ
Posted by Belle on 25 Nov 2007 at 07:39 pm | Tagged as: AZ, blogging, travels, trips
A week ago, we had an excursion at Walnut Canyon with my daughters. It was our first ever visit here. The Walnut Canyon is located about 10 miles southeast of Flagstaff. The canyon rim is at 6,690 feet; the canyon floor at 350 ft lower. A 0.9 mile long loop trail descends quite a ways down into the canyon passing the cliff dwellings.
The exposed canyon rocks have eroded over time creating shallow caves. During the 12th or 13th centuries, the Sinagua Indians spotted this area, constructed cliff dwellings, and lived here for several centuries.
Because of the presence of water, this place was rich in flora and fauna- perfect place for farming community. Though, now, the walnut creek as you can see in the picture is dry because it is held back in Lake Mary which provides water for the city of Flagstaff. The creek rarely ever flows anymore except when it rains hard.
Can you see those shallow caves along the cliffs? The Sinagua people built a single-story cliff dwellings there from about 12th century AD.
Cliff dwellings up close.
No excavation was needed to build this shelter as nature provided the back wall, floor, and leak-proof ceiling. All the builders did was simply laid up the unshaped blocks of limestones for side walls, enclosed the front, leaving a teeny weeny doorway to the canyon. (I presume that Sinagua people were as small as me or even smaller judging from the size of the door.)
Overhanging ledges protected their rooms from snow and rain, and shaded them during hot summer days. Thick walls of stone and mud insulated their dwellings from harsh winter weather and retained the much needed heat in the cold winter days.
Not much left in this dwelling after such a long time or someone could have ruined this on purpose long time ago, looking for artifacts. Now, visitors are only allowed to take pictures.
This is how the rocks look like before walls are erected.
In response to Annamanila’s question as to why it’s called Walnut Canyon, I added this photo.
Arizona is without a doubt the best place in America for sightseeing. The ruins are incredibly beautiful. How hot is there in that area, Belle? Looks like the sun was shining very brightly when you took your 2 daughters pic.
Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos of another great exploration.
Such a grandeur of cration. God must have gone overboard in Arizona.
Thanks again for this arm chair tour, m’belle!
What a beautiful place! Tita Annamanila was right, God really has gone overboard in Arizona. Lovely place!
Breathtaking! If ever I made it there, I’d stay for a longest time and scream “THE WORLD IS SO BEAUTIFUL” (inset: think Leonardo di Carpio’s movie, The Titanic).
Or I’d sing this song…
wow I can only imagine how amazing the place looks like. Good thing they’re trying to preserve the place too. Looks clean inside one of the caves
Amiga, you have beautiful landscapes around you. You’re so lucky to just drive an hour or 2 to see them. Ang gaganda ng mga pics mo
wow you guys travel a lot!
lucky you.
great pics, as usual.
interesting facts about the sinagua indians. pretty clever of them to construct those cliff dwellings.
I like that last pic.
Just wondering why it’s called WALNUT canyon. Dami bang walnut trees? Or because of some geologic configuration?