Flagstaff, AZ - Walnut Canyon

There are three National Monuments within easy driving distance of the city of Flagstaff. Not only do we like the town, but we thought this would be fun to collect 5 National Parks within a week - this might be a record for us!

Walnut Canyon was our first visit. These cliff dwellings are amazing. The canyon has been cut into a s-shape from the flow of the creek below and natural collapses and dams that had occurred over the years.

The "row-homes" were built under existing overhangs on ledges up and down the cliffs. We met a couple of gentlemen from South Florida on the trail and were trying to come up with the pros and cons of the different homes in this real estate market. Different views, sunny exposure, and the life-threatening hazards of some of the dwelllings. Did they have winter homes on the sunny southern slopes and summer homes on the cooler northern slopes? And, children were supposed to be able to play on the ledges...but some of these ledges were only a foot wide before the drop off. And imagine trying to climb down to the creek when you're hungry and thirsty?

The ruins gave us enough of an idea of the hardships these people faced. But they did pick a pretty canyon to live in.