Wupatki National Monument

In the century after Sunset Crater erupted, people gathered in the lower, open country north-east of the volcano. By the early 1100s it was a busy farming and trading area, and stone pueblos went up across it. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Wupatki National Monument on December 9, 1924, to protect the Citadel and Wupatki pueblos, and it now covers 35,422 acres between 4,280 and 5,720 feet, usually about 10 degrees warmer than Flagstaff. Thirteen tribes are traditionally associated with the monument. Hopi people believe that those who lived and died here remain as spiritual guardians, and members of several Hopi clans return periodically. NPS stresses that these places are remembered and cared for, not abandoned.

The largest is Wupatki Pueblo, directly behind the visitor center. It has 104 rooms, a large community room and a ballcourt, and NPS calls it the largest free-standing pueblo in northern Arizona. By 1182 perhaps 85 to 100 people lived there, with several thousand more within a day's walk. An accessible paved path leads a few hundred feet to an overlook of the whole pueblo, and a half-mile round-trip trail continues around it to the ballcourt and a natural blowhole at the far end. The site's history includes some damage: in the early 1930s an illegal whiskey still near the pueblo burned timbers dug out of its walls. Reconstruction in 1933-34 was mostly removed in the 1950s, when NPS policy changed to preserving rather than rebuilding, but the ballcourt was rebuilt in 1965.

Five other pueblos have short trails. Wukoki, a 2.5-mile drive from the visitor center, is an eight-room pueblo on a sandstone outcrop. Its tower stood three stories high and still holds original roof beams. Near the north entrance, the Citadel sits on top of a small cinder hill and is the only pueblo here built of basalt as well as sandstone, with Nalakihu, Hopi for "house standing outside the village", at its foot. Lomaki, Hopi for "beautiful house", had nine rooms built in the 1190s and sits next to a check dam, with the Box Canyon pueblos nearby. Pets are not allowed on any pueblo trail, only leashed service animals.

Rangers lead backcountry hikes on Saturdays between November and March, free with park entry but limited to 8 or 12 people. For the coming season NPS lists January to March 2027, with dates still to be posted. Day trips to Crack-in-Rock Pueblo run in April and October by reservation. Climbing on walls is prohibited, and anything you find should stay where it is.