Ancient Indian Dwellings and Petroglyph Rock Art

Tuzigoot

(Apache for “crooked water”) is the remains of a Sinagua village which sits atop a ridge 120 feet above the Verde Valley. The original pueblo was two stories high is some places and had 77 ground room floors. Most of the rooms that remain are partially preserved walls a few feet high. The largest dwelling, on top of the hill, is complete with a reconstructed ceiling plus a ladder up to the roof. From the roof there are panoramic views in all directions. The visitor center has a nice display of Indian artifacts, most of which have been found on-site.

Montezuma Castle

has been described as the best preserved and most dramatic cliff dwelling in the United States. These dwelling rise 100 feet above the Beaver Creek floodplain, and are a testimony to the resilience and innovations of the Sinagua Indians. Montezuma Castle is 90 percent original despite years of excavation and visitation. It is built into a deep alcove with masonry rooms added in phases. The roof was built of sycamore beams, reeds, grasses and clay which served as the floor for the next room built on top.

Montezuma Well

is a natural sinkhole 368 feet wide, with cliffs that tower 70 feet above the water’s surface. Every day 1.5 million gallons of warm water flows into the well, fed by large underwater vents, some as deep as 56 feet below the surface. The water exits the well through a cave 300 feet long, emerging into an irrigation ditch originally constructed almost 1000 years ago by the Sinagua Indians. Even today the well offers an oasis for visitor and wildlife.

Palatki

(Hopi for Red House) Heritage Site is located just outside Sedona. There are two trails at Palatki, one trail takes you to the Sinagua cliff dwellings and a second that goes to the alcoves that shelter the rock art or pictographs. The trail to the pictographs is fairly easy but the trail to the cliff dwellings includes about 50 rocky steps. Palatki, and its sister site Honanki, are the largest cliff dwellings in the Red Rock country.

Honanki Heritage Site

(Hopi for “Bear House”) was built by the Sinagua around 100-1300 A.D. Honanki is located in a remote Red Rock canyon outside Sedona, just off an unpaved road. This well preserved pueblo is of masonry construction and is one of the area’s largest, once having 60 rooms. Some of the walls still stand, while others are in various states of deterioration. Above the ruins are numerous pictographs, some of which predated the cliff dwellings by several thousand years.

V-Bar-V petroglyph site

is the largest known petroglyph site in the Verde Valley and is one of the best preserved. The rock art site consists of 1,032 petroglyphs in 13 panels. Volunteers from the Verde Valley Archaeological society and the Friends of the Forest provide interesting interpretive tours and on site management. A visitor center with restroom and bookstore is located at the start of the easy half mile walk to the site.

Grand Canyon

Canyon View Information Plaza:

Stop at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center to receive information on the park, or to enjoy the view from Mather point.

Yavapai Observation Station:

Catch spectacular views of the canyon from large observation windows or outside viewpoints.  Displays inside explain the geology of the park.

Desert View Drive:

Tracing the South Rim for 23 miles between the Village and Desert View the Desert View Drive features striking canyon vistas, Tusayan Ruin and spectacular views from the Watchtower of the Painted Desert, the Colorado River, the San Francisco Peaks and the Vermilion Cliffs.

Hermit Toad and Rim Trail:

Enjoy this 16 mile round trip by convenient shuttle or on foot along the Rim Trail.  The route includes eight main viewpoints along Hermit Road.

Hiking:

Even in a day, you can still hike a short way into the canyon along the Bright Angel or South Kaibab trails.

Grand Canyon IMAX Theater:

The National Geographic Theater presents “Grand Canyon: Discovery & Adventure”.  This is a 34 minute film on a seven story screen that takes you on a trip through time.  Viewers will discover a Grand Canyon that would take a lifetime to experience.

Weir Trail

The vegetation found near the junction of the Bell and Weir Trails is typical Upper Sonoran species: prickly pear, agave, catclaw and juniper. Once you reach the creek, the vegetation changes to Arizona black walnut, willow, ash, sycamore, cottonwood, canyon grape, and blackberries. .

The numerous deep pools in the creek contain introduced trout and bass, and the native round-tail chub. The trail continues upstream and enters the Wet Beaver Wilderness. The trail follows the north side of the creek and ends at a large cobbled area where the creek comes in from the northeast. This is a nice place to have a picnic and take a swim!

Length: 2.75 miles from beginning of the Bell Trail

Elevation at Trailhead: 4060 feet

Rating: Easy

Season: Year Around

Hiking Time: 45 minutes

GPS: 34° 40.450’N,’ 111° 42.812’W

West Fork Oak Creek Trail

The trail is marked for the first three miles; however, many hikers continue beyond that. Eventually the pathway ends and you will be forced to hike in the stream bed as you continue into the Secret Mountain/Red Rocks Wilderness. If you choose to travel all 14 miles from one end of the canyon to the other, plan to do a lot of wading and boulder hopping, and even some swimming. This is a great trail to hike in the summer as much of the trail is shaded.

The Call of the Canyon Day-Use Area

is at the Trailhead of the West Fork Trail.

There are 6 picnic table sites; toilets; parking area for the West Fork Trail. Call of the Canyon is operated by Recreation Resource Management and is a fee area.

Fees:

Day-use is $10 per vehicle (up to 5 people), walk-in, bicycle, bus: $2.00 per person. In lieu of this fee, the WEEKLY Red Rock Pass or the GRAND ANNUAL Red Rock Pass are accepted here. (Holders of Golden Age or Golden Access, America-the-Beautiful Senior or America-the-Beautiful Access passes may receive a 50% discount. America-the-Beautiful ANNUAL passes are not accepted here.)

Length:

3 miles or more

Rating:

Easy

Season:

Year Round

Hiking time:

2-3 hours round trip

GPS:

N34° 59′ 25.3314″, W-111° 44′ 14.244″