PICTURE 1 - Walnut Canyon with the San Francisco Peaks Walnut Canyon was formed from a small creek eroding the underlying Kabab limestone. As the stream cut downward, it left small caves that allowed native americans to build a sizable community along about a mile of the creek. Here, if you look in the lower center, a cave encloses ruins that blend in with the cliff. In the background, the San Francisco Peaks portray the volcanic nature of the whole area. The 'apartment builders' here were the Sinaqua who took advantage of the volcanic ash to both dry-farm, as well as use the creek drainages.


PICTURE 2 - Hiking Trail and 'the Loop' At the very bottom of this picture, you can see the downward trail. Then, up a little, is a hiker walking along a loop that follows Walnut creek. Not only can you walk close to the ruins, but if you brought your binoculars, you can search the opposite side of the creek for even more ruins.


PICTURE 3 - Typical Ruins Across the Creek Here, we're looking across the creek, from the trail. In the center, are a series of 'apartments' built into the limestone cliff. The interesting part is that the vertical angle of the cliff is typical. As occupants went to work, went for water, and played, they had to climb up and down the cliff-side.


PICTURE 4 - More Ruins This another view. We're standing underneath one of the over-hanging cliffs, as would a Senaqua, 800 years ago. The distance is such that we could easily call out to another family in the homes across from us. As you look at the picture, try to figure out how they went up and down the cliff-side.


PICTURE 5 - Room Block Along the Trail This is a typical apartment room. Walls are built outward, and perpendicular to the cave rear. The size of each room is not unlike a home today; maybe a little larger. Each has black smudging along the walls, reflecting fires to keep the room warm, especially in the winter.


PICTURE 6 - Looking Outward from a Room This view gives you a feel for the view from inside the rooms. In this picture, the walls are broken down. At the time, a door (see next picture) would have blocked out the winter cold, and allowed a coolness in the summer.


PICTURE 7 - Reconstruction Here, you can see the detail in a reconstructed window/vent. Notice the supporting wood and the limestone rock. The quality of construction varied, some quite squared-off and others loosely constructed. Clearly, the first families to arrive got the better (and easier) locations to build.


PICTURE 8 - Embedded Rock This picture was taken along the hiking path down the cliff-side. The path moves down through layers of limestone that geologically would have been at the bottom of an ancient sea, during the late permian period. The oddness here, is an embedded rock, that presumably was washed onto the bottom of the ocean floor, and then slowly covered up with more sea life (later becoming the limestone here).