"Wupatki National Monument" Top 5 Page for this destination Flagstaff Things to Do Tip by VeronicaG

Traveling to ancient Indian ruins was a highlight of our trip to Arizona. We were able to visit several, one of which was the Wupatki ruins.

"Wupatki' is derived from Hopi language meaning "it was cut long". It's said that the people prospered here in one of the driest and warmest places on the Colorado Plateau.

There were many people living at this particular site, which included a 100 room structure with a tower, community room and ballcourt.

The community room (picture #2) was a circular structure used for special events. It was open-air and seems to be a central gathering place.

This pueblo is thought to have been at the crossroads of several travel routes, where the people were able to engage in trade, farming and craft making. Several clans met here for ceremonial rites and important events. There is no other pueblo this size for fifty miles.

The descendants of these people, the Hopi, feel the village of Wupatki is among the most important site of their ancestral clans.

Wupatki was inhabited after the volcanic explosion at Sunset Crater (see later tip) between 1040 and 1100 AD. The people built the pueblo around and on the sandstone rocks. It's built in the open, not on cliffs and stood three stories high and included storage rooms in which to gather harvests.

Wupatki became a national monument in 1924. A visitor's center is open 9am-5pm daily.

Directions: Near Flagstaff, Arizona 21 miles north off U.S. Highway 89 or take U .S. Hwy. 89 loop road, 26 miles north of Flagstaff and head east 14 miles. Follow signs.