Walnut Canyon National Monument, Archaeological site and nature reserve in Coconino County, Arizona.
Walnut Canyon National Monument is a nature reserve featuring a canyon with walls up to 600 feet deep that contain numerous dwellings built into natural rock recesses. The limestone formations show where people once lived in shelters carved or constructed within the stone.
The canyon was settled by the Sinagua people between 1100 and 1250 AD, who built more than 80 rooms within the rock walls. This period marked intense occupation of the site before people left the region and the canyon fell silent.
The people built their homes directly into natural rock recesses and used the surrounding areas to grow corn, beans, and squash. This way of living shows how closely they worked with their environment and shaped it to meet their needs.
The Island Trail is about one mile round-trip and guides visitors along paved paths past the historic rooms. The trail goes downhill and back up, so wear good shoes and allow enough time to walk at a comfortable pace.
The canyon hosts more than 380 different plant species growing at various elevations, from desert plants at the bottom to pines at the top. This variety exists because temperature and rainfall change significantly with height, creating different habitats.
Location: Coconino County
Location: Arizona
Inception: November 30, 1915
Operator: United States National Park Service
Part of: Flagstaff Area National Monuments
Website: http://nps.gov/waca
GPS coordinates: 35.16583,-111.50194
Latest update: December 6, 2025 16:01
The southwestern United States encompasses desert landscapes, sandstone formations and archaeological sites from several pre-Columbian cultures. The region spans Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, featuring geological structures shaped over millions of years by wind and water erosion. National parks such as Canyonlands and Capitol Reef display canyons, mesas and rock spires in shades of red, orange and ochre. The area preserves evidence of the Ancestral Puebloans, who built cliff dwellings and communal structures between the 12th and 14th centuries. Sites like Bandelier National Monument and Gila Cliff Dwellings provide access to these habitations. Chaco Culture National Historical Park documents a pre-Hispanic trading center with multistory stone complexes. Petroglyphs at locations such as Three Rivers and the petrified trees of Petrified Forest National Park offer additional historical records. The Navajo Nation administers Monument Valley and the Navajo Zoo, while Hubbell Trading Post operates as a functioning 19th-century trading post. Volcanic features mark Sunset Crater and El Malpais, while White Sands covers more than 275 square miles (700 square kilometers) of gypsum dunes. Glen Canyon and the man-made Lake Cochiti provide water access in this largely arid region. Elevation differences range from the Organ Pipe Cactus Desert to Great Basin National Park with its ridges above 13,000 feet (3,900 meters).
Arizona contains geological formations spanning millions of years alongside evidence of Spanish colonial settlement and prehistoric cultures. The landscape includes sandstone canyons such as Antelope Canyon X and Canyon de Chelly National Monument, extensive desert areas with saguaro and organ pipe cacti, and volcanic remnants at Sunset Crater. Historical sites include Spanish missions like Tumacácori, pueblo ruins at Montezuma Castle, and mining towns such as Bisbee and Jerome. The state holds significant paleontological sites at Petrified Forest National Park, where fossilized tree trunks from the Triassic period lie exposed, and cave systems like Kartchner Caverns with active speleothem formations. The Vermilion Cliffs region displays layered sandstone formations including The Wave, while the Chiricahua Mountains show volcanic rock pinnacles formed from welded ash. Waterfalls such as Havasu Falls and Grand Falls result from geological faulting and seasonal water flow. Archaeological sites document occupation by the Hohokam, Sinagua, and Ancestral Puebloans between 300 and 1400 CE. Tonto Natural Bridge forms one of the largest travertine bridges in North America, while Besh-Ba-Gowah shows Salado culture construction methods from the 13th century. The territory spans from the Sonoran Desert in the south to the Colorado Plateau in the north, creating distinct climate zones and ecosystems within a compact area.
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