Wupatki National Monument Travel Guide

 razorbacker Says:  Wukoki is readily accessible to modern Man, but it is easy to imagine yourself an ancient inhabitant of this remote fiefdom, isolated in a hostile land, alert for enemies, secure in this citadel of red stone, a world unto yourselves. All the pueblos in Wupatki Monument are... 

 Yaqui Says:  Next to The Citadel site is this marker. The plaque reads: A VillageYou are entering the “Citadel,” a ruin from the late 1100s. Research has not been completed so it is important that we leave things as they are. Will there be extra storage spaces found, possible evidence... 

 Yaqui Says:  Next to The Citadel site is this marker and it reads: Farming then did not mean vast fields like we use today. Anasazi and Sinagua people modified these small terraces to grow hand-tended corn, cotton, beans, and squash. We know the climate was about what it is now, very dry... 

 Yaqui Says:  The plaque reads: Volcanic activity to the south produced giant fissures or earth cracks throughout the Wupatki area in the Kaibab Limestone. This formation covers most of the western half of Wupatki National Monument. The Sinagua and Anasazi Indians who inhabited these... 

 Yaqui Says:  At each of the historic sites are plaques with educational information of the area. The plaque reads: Eight hundred years ago, a savannah-like grassland covered much of this high desert with abundant grasses. The residents would have collected and burned much of the nearby... 

 Yaqui Says:  The distant San Francisco Peaks would have looked much like they do today. To the east, however, Sunset Crater Volcano would still have been belching black smoke and cinders when the Sinagua and Anaszi lived here. The thick layer of cinders over the sandy soil helped hold... 

 Yaqui Says:  PlazaAn open area in the pueblo near the rim of the earthcrack is known as the plaza. In pueblos, the plaza was the center for many daily activities including grinding corn, making pottery, working obsidian into arrowheads, processing other plants for food, and cooking. It... 

 Yaqui Says:  The Box Canyon ruins are typical of many pueblos found in this region. Early inhabitants constructed walls of nearby sandstone and limestone, and used local soils to cement the stones together. The flat roofs were built of timbers laid side-by-side, covered with smaller... 

 Yaqui Says:  The Citadel~It was a remarkable achievement, to use primitive mortar and local stones to build the walls above you straight up from the edge of the top of the rock. “The Citadel” is the modern name given to this ruin because of its location, but archeologists wonder why the... 

 Yaqui Says:  Nalakihu - A modern Hopi name, "House Outside the Village"Farmers lived here about 800 years ago. (Roof beams gave tree ring dates in the late 1100s.) The way the walls join show this small pueblo was not built all at once, but was added onto. Roof remains indicated parts... 

 Yaqui Says:  You can purchase a trail guide within the visitor center for just $1.00. This is the largest pueblo within the park.Between 1100 and 1200, more people lived in this area than ever before, or since. Located along routes linking large populations to the northeast and south,... 

 Yaqui Says:  Visitor centers are always a wealth of information with wonderful friendly staff to help, a great gift/books store and some really educational displays available too. One of the welcoming rangers offer me a Wupatki Pueblo Trail Guide to use free while exploring the Wupatki... 

 Yaqui Says:  This is a very unique pueblo because you can walk within it safely and crawl or crouch into the others rooms. Be careful though of snakes! There is a trail that takes you all around the pueblo too, so make sure to check it out!Wukoki, a modern Hopi word for “Big House” was... 

 Jonathan_C Says:  The Nalakihu and Citadel pueblos are located a couple of miles east of Wupatki pueblo but still within the National Monument. In the background you can see the volcanic outcropping that forms the backdrop for Lomaki pueblo.As with Tuzigoot National Monument, I can imagine a... 

 Jonathan_C Says:  As in the rest of Arizona, the best viewing is in the morning and evening hours. Not only do you escape the heat, but the photography is infinitely better. We arrived at Wupatki an hour or so before sunset and were treated to warm tones and long shadows that brought out the... 

 BruceDunning Says:  There are fliers given our to all coming to the park to forewarn not to break the law. There is minimum $325 fine for picking up artifacts, damaging any area, or even touching sensitive or walking on preserved sites. They mean it and ask others to watch for violators and...