Introduction
Living in Flagstaff is expensive. Land is limited, rent prices are sky-high, and I’ve found certain groceries to cost almost double what they did in Phoenix. Now, you may ask, why are people willing to tolerate this? I’ll tell you: Flagstaff’s biggest selling point is “access to nature.”
You’ll read about it on NAU brochures, real estate listings, hotels- pretty much everybody touts how close they are to trails or how short their drive is to the Grand Canyon. Initially, I thought they were exaggerating. But I must say, Flagstaff is probably one of the few places I’ve been where one minute you can be in a bustling downtown surrounded by people and not even 15 minutes later be hiking on a trail in a deserted forest, not a soul in sight. To some people, that is priceless. And while I admit I’m mostly just here for NAU, I’ve certainly come to appreciate it as well.
Enter Walnut Canyon. Not even a 10 minute drive east of Flagstaff, it’s a beautiful canyon formed by millions of years of erosion with great views and a very rich cultural history.
Visitor Center
The park is definitely on the smaller side, but the visitor center is very well-put together. Walking in, you’re immediately met with floor-to-ceiling windows with a great view into the canyon.
Perhaps one of my favorite displays was the “One Cultural Site Among Many” board near the entrance. I’ve actually been looking for a list of parks and monuments to visit within driving distance, but it’s been difficult to find one that’s complete. If you want an idea of how much there is to do in northern Arizona and the surrounding states, my immediate thought was one of those detective boards with dozens of pins and pieces of string connecting everything.
Off to the side is a small theater playing documentaries about the park, and various exhibits with Native American artifacts.
A large reason Walnut Canyon was dedicated a National Monument was to protect the artifacts and dwellings from looting. The documentary explained (and a park ranger confirmed after I asked) that some looters went as far as to use dynamite to make looting easier. Walnut Canyon provides a pretty rare look into early American societies, and has been extensively studied under the NPS’s protection since.
One item I found particularly interesting was the Coca-Cola can filled with concrete from the 1970s. These were used to support poles on the Island Trail, and were only removed in 2005 while the park was renovating. Hey, if it works?
For the centennial in 2016, a few local schools created very neat hand-drawn picture books for the park and its visitors.
There were also a few paintings of the canyon in winter time. I spoke with a ranger, and both trails are open in the snow- I’ll have to come back in the winter to see what it’s like. With crampons and a parka, of course.
One of the coolest exhibits was a very intricate diorama of the societies of the canyon- dozens of people cooking, farming, sleeping. Guillet’s love for fine art definitely shone through- I wonder if he has exhibits at any of the other parks he worked at.
Rim Trail
There are two main trails at the park: the Rim trail and the Island trail. The Rim trail is much easier, and takes you on a scenic walk out to a lookout point with lots of informational signs and benches to rest on. The other, the Island trail, takes you into the canyon and into the dwellings themselves. I didn’t bring any water with me, and it was starting to thunder and rain in the distance, so I decided to go with the Rim trail and save the Island trail for a future trip.
A ranger was working on a small garden with squash, berries, and other crops emulating those of canyon societies.
The rim trail was really beautiful, quiet, and peaceful. You could make out the creek bed and many of the dwellings very clearly from up above.
The weather, despite raining a little, was fantastic. There was a nice calm breeze, lots of cloud cover, and the storms and thunder were still a decent way away.
I saw a lot of vultures. Initially I thought they might have been condors, but a ranger had let me know they don’t usually come down this far south. My animal photography definitely needs some work, but I was able to get a few okay shots.
Finishing off, the trail brings you around to a few pubelo foundations and a pithouse. Although they have been maintained over the years, much of the structure is original and stands as it would have hundreds of years ago.
Overall, I enjoyed my trip. I hope to return sometime later this fall or winter to hike the Island Trail and get closer to some of the cliff dwellings. If you’re in the area or just passing through on I-40, I definitely suggest stopping.