Wupatki National Monument
Native American pueblo ruins at Wupatki National Monument. Source: National Park Service.
Picture above: Wukoki Ruin at Wupatki National Monument, date unknown, Historic American Buildings Survey. Courtesy Library of Congress. Right: Largest pueblo from the ancient Puebloan people beginning about 500 A.D, 2018, Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Wupatki National Monument
Northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, stands a Puebloan town, well the ruins of it, which was established, well, long before the modern city, think 1100 A.D. Today, the structures are within Wupatki National Monument. Now, don't think of Wupatki as one of those small monuments several hundred acres large or smaller. It is a massive thirty-five thousand acre desert oasis of rocks, grasslands, and immense history and meaning to the Native Americans who resided here centuries ago, and some, within the last fifty years. Yes, the Grand Canyon is the lure in this part of the world, but if you're traveling there, a deke to Wupatki will amaze you.
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Wupatki Then
For thousands of years, this area of the southwest was home to various tribes, including the Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni, among others. What we see today is predominantly from the time period of 1100, one hundred years after the Sunset Crater erupted. The people here were knowlegeable about dry farming. Some lived in the larger structures that were often surrounded by smaller family pueblos. Despite the harsh land, these pueblos over the region held several thousand people.
However, the arid land was harsh, and these pueblos, as homes to a significant number of people, ceased to prosper by 1225. They would last as remnants of the period, with Native Americans, in smaller numbers, living throughout the landscape.
Photo above: Wupatki Ball Court, date unknown, Historic American Buildings Survey. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Minute Walk in History - Wupatki
Take a step back in time with the ancestral Pueblo tribes in northern Arizona with pictures of the ruins of the homes, audio recordings of some of the Native Americans who lived in the Wupatki area, and music.
Wupatki Now
Today, and since 1924, Wupatki National Monument has been the caretaker of the Pueblos built nearly a thousand years ago. There are four main areas where the ruins of those structures stand, plus a Visitor Center with film, orientation, Park Ranger walks and talks, as well as a driving tour. You are gonna want to walk to, around, and in the structures available. Try to imagine life inside those walls and in the desert prairie and mountains around them. Pay homage to the Native Americans who made them home.
The park is administered in conjunction with the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, which impacted much of the landscape, as well as habitation, of the tribes who called Wupatki home.
Photo above: A current view of another Ball Court at Wupatki. Courtesy National Park Service.
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Wupatki National Monument
Things You Should Not Miss
1. Watch the park film and gander at the exhibits inside the Wupatki National Monument Visitor Center. It will give you great orientation and history of the area and people who called it home.
2. Visit all three of the pueblo areas you are currently allowed to visit; Wupatki (behind Visitor Center), Wukoki, and the Citadel and Nalakihu.
3. Take a ranger guided hike. These long, up to eight hour hikes take you to Crack in Rock, Kainob House, and East Mesa. They do require reservations and none are given in the summer. You should also watch their Calendar for shorter hikes or talks near the three open pueblo areas held throughout the year.
Photo above: Landscape at Wupatki. Courtesy National Park Service.
Visitor FAQ
What's There Now
Wupatki National Monument
A Visitor Center in Mission 66 style is located near the largest ruin, namesake Wupatki, which is directly behind it. This ruin contained one hundred and four rooms, a ball court, and natural blow hole. Eighty-five to one hundred people are thought to have lived in this pueblo. It was built one hundred years after the eruption of the Sunset Crater volcano, ne 1100, which actually improved the soil. At the time, several thousand Native Americans lived within thirty miles. Also in this area is the Stone House, completed in 1940 by the WPA.
Wukoki Pueblo is two and one-half miles east of the Visitor Center. It holds eight rooms with a three story tower, and was occupied from 1000 to 1200 A.D. There is a walking trail from the parking lot, less than a quarter of a mile long. From its pedestal, you can see parts of Flagstaff's geography. The excavation was started in 1896 by Jesse Walter Fewkes.
The Citadel and Nalakihu Pueblos can be accessed from the trail of the same name. It is ten miles northwest of the Visitor Center. The Citadel is a large structure surrounded by smaller pueblos. During the Work Progress Administration, a roof and walls were built about Nalakihi pueblo and used as their headquarters of a WPA camp. Those modern additions have been removed.
Lomaki (beautiful house) and Box Canyon Pueblos are located north of Citadel and Nalakiha pueblos near the northern border of the park. Dry farming was conducted nearby. These pueblos are currently not accessible.
Photo above: Highlands landscape near the park, 2018, Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Lodging, Camping, and Food
There are no camping or lodging facilities within the park. Picnic tables are available at the Visitor Center and the Lomaki Pueblo parking lot. Flagstaff, about one hour away, has many hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts, plus unique restaurants and chains. Food and lodging is also available in Cameron, within the Navajo reservation.
For campers, Coconino National Forest has a variety of options, from designated campsites at Cinder Hills OHV Dispersed Camping Area, Bonito Campground, O'Leary Group Campground, and Lockett Meadow Campground. These range from seventeen to twenty-six miles from Wupatki. Dispersed camping is also allowed, and for now, it's free.
Image above: Lynx kitten peering from the rocks at Wupatki National Monument. Courtesy National Park Service.
Native Americans at Wupatki
When Jesse Walter Fewkes began his excavation of the pueblos near Flagstaff, he thought that stucture Wukoki (big house in Hopi) was part of the Snake Clan legend. The locations of other pueblos, including the Citadel, were in an area of agriculture. In the Hopi belief, there are spiritual guardians of those who lived and died in the area also guarding the remnants of the structures.
These pueblos are visited regularly by members of the Hope Bear, Sand, Lizard, Rattlesnake, Water, Snow, and Katsina clans of the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, and other tribes.
Image above: Walls of the remains of rooms at one of the pueblos in Watupki. Courtesy National Park Service.
