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LOMAKI PUEBLO & BOX CANYON RUINS
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| One of the Box Canyon ruins |
Over the next few days, I'll be chronicling my one-day
hike-drive in Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater National Park. This
two-park tour is famous for its multi-cultural Native American ruins, volcanic
geology and outstanding Painted Desert views. Also, the park's 2,000-foot
elevation variance blends desert scrublands, rich pine forests, sandstone mesas
and rivers of lava for perhaps the most complex cluster of hiking trails in
Arizona.
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| Lomaki Pueblo |
Using the 35-mile "volcanoes and ruins loop road” north
of Flagstaff as the main travel artery, I made six stops for short hikes
totaling 4.25 miles. First up:
Lomaki Pueblo & Box Canyon. Located
at the north end of the park on the high plains of the San Francisco Volcanic
Field, this collection of red-sandstone ruins built on a gaping earth crack
have not been restored, so visitors can marvel at the precision architecture
and mortar work that has held up for more than 800 years. Three main structures teeter on the
edge of a narrow box canyon where the original inhabitants may have farmed and
used imaginative technology to harvest rain water. Interpretive signs along trail augment the hike with
insights into pertinent archeological research.
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| Box Canyon ruins |
LENGTH: 0.5-mile loop
RATING: easy (non-paved, some steps)
ELEVATION: 5,325'-5,350'
GETTING THERE:
From Flagstaff, travel north on US 180 to milepost
444.5 (north entrance to the parks). Turn right and continue 4
miles to the Lomaki turn off on the left. Roads are 100% paved.
FACILITIES: restroom, picnic table
HOURS: open year-round sunrise to sunset
FEE: $5 per person, good for 7 days at both Wupatki and
Sunset Crater
PETS: are not allowed on any park trails or in buildings. Please do not leave pets in cars---heat
can be fatal, even on cool days.
INFO: National Park Service, 928-679-2365
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