Page 12 - the Noise July 2016

arizona adventures: WaLnut CanYon
ask a local what their favorite outdoor destination is and you’ll wind up getting a list a mile long every time. The sheer volume of his- tory, activities, and sites here is practically endless. So, for this month’s feature on a sweet spot to visit, the Noise decided to be as egalitarian in our coverage as humanly possible: we put on a blindfold, spun in a circle twenty times, and chucked a dart at a map of this half of the state. After numerous misses, punctured furniture, broken lightbulbs, terrified pets, and bloodied roommates, we finally hit Walnut Canyon. So, here’s the dirt on this gem just ten miles northeast of beautiful Flagstaff.
Take the I-40 east to Exit 204. Leaving Flagstaff, its 71⁄2 miles east and 3 miles north to the canyon rim. The monument is open every day from 8AM to 5PM all year, except Christmas because of Santa! Standard admis- sion price is $8 and kids under 15 get in for free. Unfortunately, there’s no camping; however, the nearby Bonito campground is open from late May to mid-October. It’s also just a hop-skip-and-jump from the Wupatki Ru- ins and Sunset Crater, both of which make for excellent day trips.
There are two trails at the monument. The Rim Trail is a quick .7-mile jaunt, taking about thirty minutes to complete. The portion to the sce- nic viewpoint is paved and wheelchair accessible. The self-guided tour weaves through a gorgeous section of ponderosa pine before opening up into a spectacular view of two canyons, a pithouse, and pueblo. The Island Trail is a mile loop through the heart of a Sinaguan village, sitting much as it did when its inhabitants first moved in between 1100-1250 CE. The trail brings you down 185 feet into the canyon, mildly difficult for those not
by mike Williams | photos by tiffany bettinGer
buildings we see today were constructed in the limestone alcoves, since eroded away by the forces of wind, gravity, and water. The canyon itself is as classic in its geological content as any in the area. Four hundred feet deep and three miles long, it cuts through Permian Kaibab Limestone, exposing the Toroweap Formation and Coconino Sandstone with three distinct layers visible in the canyon walls.
Of course, the main attraction here is the ruins. The Sinagua people left behind about 80 ruins in the region including the Tuzigoot National Monument, the Wupatki Ruins, Montezuma’s Castle, and the Elden Pueblo before they mysteriously disappeared around the year 1250 CE. Experts believe a drought, conflict with neighboring tribes, and resource depletion could all be candidates for why they abandoned their perma- nent structures. Modern Hopis, along with the Pima, Yavapai, Zuni, and Tohono O’odham, trace their lineage back to the Sinagua people and be- lieve the area was left for religious reasons. The ruins themselves were subject to extreme looting in the 1880’s that came on the heels of the rail- road’s construction. Pottery hunters flocked to the area where they dug up floors, dynamited cliffs, desecrated graves, and toppled walls looking for artifacts. Naturally, locals went federal, and Walnut Canyon’s status as a national monument was established in 1915, where it was maintained by US Forest Service until the National Park Service took over in 1934.
And there’s so many critters! Thanks largely to the presence of abun- dant water, Walnut Canyon is a cornucopia of flora and fauna. There are at least 69 species of mammals, 28 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 121 species of birds. Lizards, elk, bear, snakes, rabbits, pronghorn sheep, and mountain lions all live in the area and, given the presence of abun- dant rodent life, this is a prime spot to see some of the Southwest’s most endangered raptors like the Mexican spotted owl, peregrine falcon, and the northern goshawk.
As with any national monument, the terrain is fragile. Stay on trails, don’t feed the wildlife, and pack it out!
acclimated to the altitude. the summers, so heads up!
Also, it gets a wee bit on the hot side during
People have moved through the area for millennia, but the first semi- permanent and permanent residents settled down in Walnut Canyon around 600 CE. The early people were mostly farmers that grew squash, beans, and corn on the rim and supplemented their gardens with hunt- ing game in the surrounding woods. Somewhere around 1100 CE, the
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