Walnut Canyon National Monument

Such a beautiful place, island trail takes you down and around the island in the canyon. You pass many settlements along the trail and be able to see the other side of the canyon with many more homes on the cliffs. The rim trail is easy with two viewing points, with amazing views of the cliff dwellings.

Driving back the road to the site I was not expecting what I was about to experience. Once in the visitor center and in the observation area I caught a glimpse of the canyon. The hike down the stairs and around the island trail was well worth it. The climb back up the stairs is not for the faint of heart at the elevation. Amazing views, incredible history, and well worth the trip.

Hands down worth every step if you love all things history, love cool things and are in the shape to do it. This is no joke with 273 stairs and 185 ft elevation gain. If you have knee problems this is not for you. There is only one way up and down and that is stairs. Make sure you bring water and can make it back up to the visitors center. I’m in total awe of the people who lived here. How did they do it? They must’ve been so strong going up and down these creations. Around every turn you’ll see other ruins across the way. There are beautiful views and we saw so many birds who seem to be acclimated to people. Luckily we came on an overcast day which I’m sure helped me get back to the top. I am from the valley and it was still a bit hard for me to catch my breath. I can see the heat being a problem for many in the summer. Come prepared. While only a mile trail the stairs make it challenging.

Beautiful place hike down not too bad it’s just stairs but the way up is a little difficulty for most people so just remember going down is easy but you have to go back up and their is a hundreds of stairs really cool cliff dwellings too.

A great national park to visit. If possible take the island trail. The view of canyon was gorgeous. But it takes some energy when go back to the visitor center. Make sure bring enough water.

What an awesome place!! We re so glad that we took the time to stop and do the hike through the canyon dwellings. It is only about a mile long. The view into the canyon was amazing and we could actually walk into the stone dwellings. The many steps back up were somewhat strenuous, but it was well worth it. Dogs are not allowed on this trail. We could see why; some of the trail has no barriers to a straight drop down into the canyon. It was one of the best ancient dwellings monuments that we have visited. There is RV parking at the visitor center.

An amazing place, very close to Flagstaff. It’s a must visit place to see the ancient caves/quarters. The visitor center is the entrance and there are steps to go down and climb back up, but almost anyone can do that. The visitor center is clean and well staffed with friendly people. There are other trails also. Don’t miss this place if you can spare 1-2 hours.

A very beautiful and mystic place. After going to the visitor center we hiked down along the Island Trail and «discovered» the well-preserved cliff dwellings.