Ancestral Peubloan ruins of Wupatki
Wupatki National Monument Since I am in the neighborhood zooming around a loop road, I stopped to visit the sites of Wupatki National Monument as well. The entry fee is usually $25, which gets one into Sunset National Monument as well, but today is the last of the year's five fee free days. It is a gamble that there may be crowds. Wupatki National Monument is quite a bit larger than Sunset Crater, but also bans any sort of off trail travel, so I am limited to just a few short trails for my visit. These all go to the well preserved ruins whose protection is the purpose of the monument. Wukoki (Big House) Click for map. Wukoki seems to have been built to be noticed and still stands tall today. The first ruin along when coming from Sunset Crater is Wukoki. This is off a spur road from the main loop. It is a very different experience from the ruins I have been visiting. Here a staircase has been cut to bring everyone right into the ruin and allowing them to wander the ...