Wupatki’s a wonderful collection of impressive Anasazi / Sinagua / Ancestral Puebloan ruins with beautiful views in every direction. The trails are short and sweet and you get to explore in and around the structures which is the best way to see them.

If you’re heading south from Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, the first road you can take is on the right and it’ll lead you to Wukoki Pueblo which sits atop a flat rock and is built wonderfully amongst the boulder. It commands an impressive view of the surrounding area and of the San Francisco Peaks. It’s a wonderful introduction to the Monument’s ruins.

The next stop is the Visitor Center and Wupatki Pueblo (.5 mile loop trail) with its Kivas, tall walls, and what’s left of the 100 rooms it once housed.

From there you’ll head west to the Doney Mountain Trail (.8 mile hike) which has impressive and beautiful views from its top. You can see lava flows, the San Francisco Peaks, and the painted desert of Arizona.

You’re then off towards the west and the Grand Canyon but first you’ve got to stop at Citadel and Lomaki Ruins. Both are worth the short hike to impressive structures that make you wonder how many of these ruins dot the landscape of the southwest?