Walnut Canyon National Monument is a United States National Monument located about 10 mi southeast of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, near Interstate 40. The canyon rim elevation is 6,690 ft; the canyon's floor is 350 ft lower.
https://www.nps.gov/waca/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Canyon_National_Monument
Walnut Canyon National Monument is a United States National Monument located about 10 mi southeast of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, near Interstate 40. The canyon rim elevation is 6,690 ft; the canyon's floor is 350 ft lower.
Come gaze across curved canyon walls. Among the remarkable geological formations of the canyon itself, the former homes of ancient inhabitants are easily evident. Along the trails you can imagine life within Walnut Canyon, while visiting actual pueblos and walking in the steps of those who came before.
Walnut Canyon National Monument is located approximately 7.5 miles (12 km) east of Flagstaff. From Interstate 40, take Exit 204, and turn south. The Walnut Canyon Visitor Center is located at the end of this 3-mile (5 km) road.
Walnut Canyon Visitor Center
The visitor center features architecture from both the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Mission 66 era. The visitor center is the starting point for all visits to Walnut Canyon and is staffed daily by park rangers. Children may pick up Junior Ranger activities here.
Walnut Canyon National Monument is located approximately 7.5 miles (12 km) east of Flagstaff. From Interstate 40, take Exit 204, and turn south. The Walnut Canyon Visitor Center is located at the end of this 3-mile (5 km) road.
Cliff Dwellings
sunlight illuminates stone walls in a canyon cliff dwelling
Walnut Canyon National Monument protects a series of ancient cliff dwellings built between 1125 and 1250 CE.
Walnut Canyon Snow
warm sunlight illuminates a cliff dwelling wall beside a snowy trail
The 0.9-mile (1.4 km) Island Trail leads visitors down 240 stairs to explore 25 cliff dwelling rooms.
Walnut Canyon Rim Overlook
a circular overlook at the edge of the canyon rim
The 0.7-mile (1.1 km) Rim Trail reveals expansive views of Walnut Canyon and its cliff dwellings.
Walnut Canyon Raven
a common raven landing on a barren juniper branch
At the rim of Walnut Canyon, visitors stand at eye level with soaring ravens, eagles, and other birds
A Visitor at Walnut Canyon
a visitor looks out over Walnut Canyon from the trail
More than 125,000 people visit Walnut Canyon each year.
Inventory and Monitoring Data Help Flagstaff Area National Monuments Meet Resource Management Challenges
From inventory data, to long-term monitoring data sets, to special projects, Southern Colorado Plateau Network data on vegetation communities, wildlife, and hydrology has informed much of the work being done in the network’s 19 parks.
Cinder cone with crater, surrounded by pine trees.
The Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau is centered on the four corners area of the Southwest, and includes much of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Hazy Fajada Butte, Chaco Culture National Monument
Southern Colorado Plateau Exotic Plant Inventory
Exotic plants take a heavy toll on biodiversity around the world. In the United States, exotic plant species invade tens of thousands of hectares every year, outcompeting native species and causing many to become threatened or endangered. Fire, flood, and other natural disturbance regimes can also be altered by exotic plants, broadly affecting land management.
Common salsify, an exotic plant
Wildland Fire in Douglas Fir: Western United States
Douglas fir is widely distributed throughout the western United States, as well as southern British Columbia and northern Mexico. Douglas fir is able to survive without fire, its abundantly-produced seeds are lightweight and winged, allowing the wind to carry them to new locations where seedlings can be established.
Close-up of Douglas fir bark and needles.
Walnut Canyon NM Headquarters Area Historic District Cultural Landscape
The Walnut Canyon Headquarters Area Historic District is part of Walnut Canyon National Monument, located southeast of Flagstaff in Coconino County, Arizona. The layering of features makes the Walnut Canyon Headquarters Area a significant example of projects completed during early conservation efforts in the United States—most notably the “New Deal” era of the 1930s‑1940s and the “Mission 66” era of the 1950s‑1960s.
Walnut Canyon NM Headquarters Area Historic District (NPS)
Wildland Fire in Ponderosa Pine: Western United States
This forest community generally exists in areas with annual rainfall of 25 inches or less. Extensive pure stands of this forest type are found in the southwestern U.S., central Washington and Oregon, southern Idaho and the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Recently burned ponderosa pine forest.
Vegetation Characterization and Mapping on the Southern Colorado Plateau
Vegetation mapping is a tool used by botanists, ecologists, and land managers to better understand the abundance, diversity, and distribution of different vegetation types across a landscape.
Vegetation plots used for the classification and mapping of El Malpais NM
Climate Change on the Southern Colorado Plateau
The combination of high. elevation and a semi-arid climate makes the Colorado Plateau particularly vulnerable to climate change. Climate models predict that over the next 100 years, the Southwest will become warmer and even more arid, with more extreme droughts than the region has experienced in the recent past.
One result of climate change may be more, larger floods, like this flash flood in Glen Canyon NRA
Southern Colorado Plateau Mammal Inventories
Mammal inventories help to close the gap in our knowledge and understanding of some taxonomic groups on the Colorado Plateau.
Coyote (Canis latrans)
Celebrating soils across the National Park System
First in a series of three "In Focus" articles that share insights into the near-universal and far-reaching effects of soils on the ecology, management, and enjoyment of our national parks.
Fossil soils at Cabrillo National Monument reveal marine deposits
NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Walnut Canyon National Monument, Arizona
Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports. [Site Under Development]
cliff dwelling
Series: Geologic Time Periods in the Paleozoic Era
During the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), fish diversified and marine organisms were very abundant. In North America, the Paleozoic is characterized by multiple advances and retreats of shallow seas and repeated continental collisions that formed the Appalachian Mountains. Common Paleozoic fossils include trilobites and cephalopods such as squid, as well as insects and ferns. The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history ended this era.
fossil corals in a rock matrix
Series: National Park Service Geodiversity Atlas
The servicewide Geodiversity Atlas provides information on <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geoheritage-conservation.htm">geoheritage</a> and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geodiversity.htm">geodiversity</a> resources and values all across the National Park System to support science-based management and education. The <a href="https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1088/index.htm">NPS Geologic Resources Division</a> and many parks work with National and International <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/park-geology.htm">geoconservation</a> communities to ensure that NPS abiotic resources are managed using the highest standards and best practices available.
park scene mountains
Series: Defining the Southwest
The Southwest has a special place in the American imagination – one filled with canyon lands, cacti, roadrunners, perpetual desert heat, a glaring sun, and the unfolding of history in places like Tombstone and Santa Fe. In the American mind, the Southwest is a place without boundaries – a land with its own style and its own pace – a land that ultimately defies a single definition.
Maize agriculture is one component of a general cultural definition of the Southwest.
Permian Period—298.9 to 251.9 MYA
The massive cliffs of El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park represent a Permian-age reef along the supercontinent Pangaea. The uppermost rocks of Grand Canyon National Park are also Permian.
flat-top mountain
Paleozoic Era
During the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), fish diversified and marine organisms were very abundant. In North America, the Paleozoic is characterized by multiple advances and retreats of shallow seas and repeated continental collisions that formed the Appalachian Mountains. Common Paleozoic fossils include trilobites and cephalopods such as squid, as well as insects and ferns. The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history ended this era.
fossil corals in a rock matrix
Substitute Rangers
As the 1940s dawned, the United States was still dealing with the economic woes of the Great Depression and trying not to get drawn in WWII. Even as it continued to manage New Deal Program work in national and state parks, the NPS remained understaffed as a government bureau. The emergency relief workers and about 15 percent of NPS staff enlisted or were drafted during the first couple of years of WWII.
Winifred Tada, 1940. (Courtesy of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Find Your Park on Route 66
Route 66 and the National Park Service have always had an important historical connection. Route 66 was known as the great road west and after World War II families on vacation took to the road in great numbers to visit the many National Park Service sites in the Southwest and beyond. That connection remains very alive and present today. Take a trip down Route 66 and Find Your Park today!
A paved road with fields in the distance. On the road is a white Oklahoma Route 66 emblem.
Changing Patterns of Water Availability May Change Vegetation Composition in US National Parks
Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.
Green, orange, and dead grey junipers in red soil, mountains in background
Water Resources on the Colorado Plateau
Describes the origin, uses, threats to, and conservation of water on the Colorado Plateau.
Dark green body of water winding through red rock formations with brilliant sun overhead.
Studying the Past and Predicting the Future Using Rat Nests
In the western United States, packrat middens are one of the best tools for reconstructing recent environments and climates. These accumulations of plant fragments, small vertebrate remains, rodent droppings, and other fossils can be preserved for more than 50,000 years. Packrat middens have been found in at least 41 National Park Service units.
Photo of a wood rat.
Series: Park Paleontology News - Vol. 14, No. 2, Fall 2022
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/newsletters.htm">Park Paleontology news</a> provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources. <ul><li>Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/common/utilities/sendmail/sendemail.cfm?o=5D8CD5B898DDBB8387BA1DBBFD02A8AE4FBD489F4FF88B9049&r=/subjects/geoscientistsinparks/photo-galleries.htm">newsletter editor</a></li><li>Learn more about <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/">Fossils & Paleontology</a> </li><li>Celebrate <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossilday/">National Fossil Day</a> with events across the nation</li></ul>
Photo of a person sitting while using a laboratory microscope.
Series: Geologic Time—Major Divisions and NPS Fossils
The National Park System contains a magnificent record of geologic time because rocks from each period of the geologic time scale are preserved in park landscapes. The geologic time scale is divided into four large periods of time—the Cenozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, Paleozoic Era, and The Precambrian.
photo of desert landscape with a petrified wood log on the surface
Guide to the Henry G. Peabody Photograph Collection
Finding aid for the Henry G. Peabody Collection
50 Nifty Finds #17: Common Threads
Each National Park Service (NPS) employee has a unique story. We can't tell them all, but sometimes there's a personal account—like that of Sallie Pierce Brewer Van Valkenburg Harris—that speaks to common experiences. Although her NPS connections ran from 1933 to 1971, many of her joys, challenges, and frustrations can still be recognized in the NPS today. Sallie's story resonates regardless of era, gender, or position. How will it speak to you?
Sallie Brewer in her NPS uniform standing at a gate
Making an Impact: Long-Term Monitoring of Natural Resources at Intermountain Region National Parks, 2021
Across the Intermountain Region, Inventory & Monitoring Division ecologists are helping to track the effects of climate change, provide baseline information for resource management, evaluate new technologies, and inspire the next generation of park stewards. This article highlights accomplishments achieved during fiscal year 2021.
A man looks through binoculars at sunrise.
The Plateau Postcard: Spring-Summer 2023
The Plateau Postcard is the official newsletter of the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network. In this issue, we say hello to many new faces within the network and head to the field with some of this year's spectacular monitoring crews.
Pile of postcards with images of various southwest national parks on them.
A Changing Bimodal Climate Zone Means Changing Vegetation in Western National Parks
When the climate changes enough, the vegetation communities growing in any given place will also change. Under an expanded bimodal climate zone, some plant communities in western national parks are more likely to change than others. National Park Service ecologists and partners investigated the future conditions that may force some of this change. Having this information can help park managers decide whether to resist, direct, or accept the change.
Dark storm clouds and rainbow over mountains and saguaros.
National Park Service
U. S. Department of the Interior
Flagstaff Area National Monuments
Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater Volcano
Ancient Times
Experience the Cultural Legacy and Natural Environment of
Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments
View of the San Francisco Peaks
from Wukoki Pueblo, Wupatki
NPS Photo
Follow the rock ledges and cliff dwellings down into Walnut Canyon,
gaze across the grasslands and puebloan structures at Wupatki, and
witness the aftermath of the eruption that formed Sunset Crater Volcano.
Cultural Legacy
People have found ways to live here for
thousands of years, discovering new methods
of building homes, growing food, and trading
for goods. The eruption of Sunset Crater
Volcano changed the lives of everyone who
witnessed the event and influenced settlement
at Walnut Canyon and Wupatki.
Welcome!
The scent of blooming cliffrose greets you
during the climb out of Walnut Canyon on
the Island Trail. Your eyes blink against
the glittering contrast of snow blanketing
Sunset Crater Volcano’s black basalt
flows. At Wupatki, a raven’s cackling
calls and wing beats break the silence
surrounding red sandstone pueblos.
Named after the walnut trees found within,
Walnut Canyon is better known for the cliff
dwellings built into ledges along the canyon
walls. Builders selected spots warmed by the
low winter sun, protected from snow and rain,
and shaded on summer days. With water in
Walnut Creek, land for farming on the canyon
rim, native plants to collect, and animals
to hunt, the ancestral Puebloan people had
everything they needed.
Welcome to Flagstaff Area National
Monuments, places that will delight
your senses and challenge your mind to
consider everything from violent geologic
processes to the struggle of finding water
in an arid landscape.
At Wupatki, builders chose the open grassland
and expansive horizons of the Wupatki
Basin, constructing homes of stone and mud.
Communities were comprised of farmers,
cultivating corn, beans, and squash. Wupatki
Pueblo had the greatest population. Located
at the crossroads of several cultures, it was a
regional center for trade.
Each of the monuments is unique, but all
three share a cultural legacy, including
their ownership by all Americans as
part of the National Park System. Come
and enjoy them. They are yours. This
newspaper, the Ancient Times, can
help you decide how to create your own
experiences at the Flagstaff Area National
Monuments during any season of the
year.
Sunset Crater Volcano is part of the legends,
landscape, history, and culture of several
American Indian tribes. Life profoundly
changed for those present when the volcano
erupted. Some left because survival seemed
impossible. Others saw the eruption as
a signal to migrate. Some chose to stay,
building new homes and learning to farm a
cinder-covered landscape.
We’re waiting for you!
Kayci Cook Collins
Superintendent
Flagstaff Area National Monuments
NPS Graphic
Natural Environment
From sandstone and limestone revealing
ancient sand dunes and seas, to rugged
lava flows created by violent forces in the
earth, the landscapes of all three national
monuments have been shaped by weather,
water, and time.
At Walnut Canyon plant communities overlap,
bringing together species usually separated
by elevation, creating a rare concentration
of biodiversity. The Sinagua people found a
wide array of native plants to harvest along
every curve of the canyon.
Without domestic grazing, the grasslands of
Wupatki once again provide habitat for the
same plants and animals harvested and hunted
by the ancestral Puebloan people who lived
under the endless blue skies.
Sunset Crater Volcano provides an
unparalleled opportunity to study the
dynamics of eruption, change, and recovery
in an arid climate. The dramatic landscape is
also home to a mix of species adapted to life
on and around the young volcanic terrain.
By visiting Walnut Canyon, Wupatki and
Sunset Crater Volcano and gazing across
their visually striking landscapes, you may
better understand the lives of those who came
before, learning from their ingenuity and
achievements.
What’s Inside
2-3....General Information
4-5....Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano
6.......Walnut Canyon
7.......Programs
8.......Getting Involved
Published August 2016
2
GENERAL INFORMATION
Walnut Canyon cliff dwellings, NPS Photo
Contact Information
Flagstaff Area National Monuments
Park Headquarters
6400 N. Hwy 89
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Phone: (928) 526-1157
Fax: (928) 526-4259
Email: FLAG_Information@nps.gov
Walnut Canyon National Monument
3 Walnut Canyon Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86004
www.nps.gov/waca
(928) 526-3367
Wupatki National Monument
25137 N Wupatki Loop Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86004
www.nps.gov/wupa
(928) 679-2365
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
6082 Sunset Crater Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86004
www.nps.gov/sucr
(928) 526-0502
Entrance Fees
7-day Passes
Walnut Canyon: per person (adults 16+)........$8
Sunset Crater Volcano and Wu