The Grand Canyon is one of America’s most iconic attractions, drawing some 5 million visitors each year who come to marvel at its breathtaking, otherworldly views. While some just elect to take in the canyon from the rim, others strap on their hiking boots and head down into the gorge. Whichever you choose, you can avoid busy crowds at the Grand Canyon by visiting this time of year.
As impressive as the Grand Canyon is, it’s not the only show in town. Northern Arizona boasts a number of stellar outdoor destinations, including the vivid landscape of the Painted Desert, the awe-inspiring Petrified Forest National Park, and the Wupatki National Monument — an area rich in Native American archeological sites.
Situated between the Petrified Forest and northern Arizona’s ponderosa highlands, the Wupatki National Monument is just an hour’s drive from the Grand Canyon, making it the perfect side trip. Not only does it call a stunning desert environment home, but it’s also wellspring of history, offering a glimpse into how Indigenous people lived in the area for thousands of years.
Soak up history in gorgeous desert surroundings
Occupying 35,422 acres, the Wupatki National Monument is a collection of pueblo ruins once inhabited by several different native groups over the centuries, including the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, and Ancestral Pueblo people. Situated at a crossroads, the sites served as vital villages and places of trade and still stand as a testament to both the peoples’ hard work and tenacity in such a harsh desert environment.
The national monument and its surroundings are home to a number of prehistoric pueblos. The site’s namesake — the Wupatki Pueblo — is also the biggest free-standing pueblo in Arizona, and features 104 rooms, including a ball court and natural blowhole. Constructed out of red stones, the structure rises starkly from the surrounding desert, and even though it’s no longer occupied, it’s still an important site for the Hopi, who believe the people who lived and died at Wupatki still remain as spiritual guardians.
Other ruins include the Lomaki and Box Canyon Pueblos, which acted as local agricultural centers; the Wukoki Pueblo ,a three-story, eight room structure that offers sweeping vistas of the towering San Francisco Peaks in the distance , and the Nalakilu and the Citadel Pueblos, which — while built in the early 1100s — occupy an area that has evidence of human habitation dating back to 8000 BCE.
Other things to see and do around Wupatki National Monument
