Just east of Flagstaff you can see cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon. You can see Native American Indian Ruins, Sinagua dwellings date back some 700 years. There is a small visitor center and two trails available to hike.
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Flagstaff Cliff Dwellings: Island Trail
The Island Trail is a mile long and considered strenuous. From this trail you can get up close and personal with 25 of the cliff dwelling remains. This trail has 240 stairs, so you will definitely get your steps in on this trail. The view from the trail is beautiful.
Once you reach the bottom of the stairs the winding path is fairly easy to walk and in no time you will be up close and personal with these ancient limestone cliff dwellings shaped out of shallow caves.
Considering the Sinagua dwellings date back to the 1100’s it is amazing we have an opportunity to glimpse of how people lived in this rugged terrain. I thought it was amazing people were able to farm on the canyon rims.
Rim Trail
The second trail is call the Rim Trail and it is around .7 miles long. This partially paved trail has two outlook areas. If you visit in the winter the only trail that is open is the Rim Trail.
While we were not able to see the dwellings up close on this trail we did get pretty close to a deer and had great views from the overlooks.
Location: Flagstaff,AZ
Directions:10 miles east of downtown Flagstaff. Take exit 204 from I-40
Nearby Attractions:
- Downtown Flagstaff (12 miles)
- Lowell Observatory (13 miles)
- Lava River Cave (31 miles)
- Grand Canyon Deer Farm (37 miles)
- Bearizona Wildlife Park (42 miles)
- Wupatki National Monument (46 miles)
