Walnut Canyon

On Tuesday, we visited Walnut Canyon. Located about 10 miles East of Flagstaff, the canyon was populated by the Sinagua people at about 1100 AD. Sinagua means "without water". These were people who lived on a gallon of water a day. The modern resident of Flagstaff uses about 155 gallons of water a day. The canyon is composed of three layers of rock. The top layer is limestone, the middle layer is called the Toroweap formation and the lowest layer is Coconino sandstone. Over time, the soft limestone layer developed eroded pockets back into the cliff. The natives finished the excavation and then walled up the resulting opening to create rooms.

The rooms are about 8-10' deep and 10 to 20' long.

The Park itself was developed as a CCC project back in the early thirties. Prior to that time looters had destroyed many of the rooms and carried off much of the historical material. The degree of damage inspired local historians to argue for the preservation of the area.

There is a really nice visitor center which overlooks the canyon. Although it is on three levels there is a wheelchair transport that allows handicap access to the view.

Upon exiting the visitor center, you descend 185' to a trail that goes around a section of of the canyon that was formed by a loop in the stream, making almost an island. The island is oriented so that part of it is exposed to the sun on one side and mostly shade on the other. So there are warmer rooms for the winter and cooler ones for the summer. The trail is unique in that you can actually go into most of the rooms and imagine what life was like in those times. It's very sobering to sit there and look out and try to appreciate the difficulty of life in those times.

The trail around the island is quite good and not very difficult at all.

Along the way there are some neat flowers and plants.

Then begins the trip back to the top. There are 240 steps, not counting the paved inclined areas. The trick is to stop often and drink plenty of water. We thought the gift shop should have had a T-shirt that said "I survived Walnut Canyon" but they didn't.

And if you're wondering about the name, they really do have walnut trees.

This is an Arizona Walnut. There were actually small walnuts visible on some of the branches. There used to be quite a lot of them along the bottom of the canyon but they have declined in recent years as an upstream dam has drastically reduced the flow of water. There was no water at all visible during our visit.

Walnut Canyon is an excellent stop. It's very dramatic and impressive and yet small enough to not be overwhelming. Plus, it's a good workout but not too difficult. None of us were sore the next day and saying something for us old farts.