On one of our last days in the area, I re-visited Sand Canyon in Canyon of the Ancients. Derek and I have mountain biked in this trail network before and enjoyed it. You can read that post and see pictures HERE My goal was to hike a few miles to see a cliff dwelling, some cool rock formations, and mountains. Goal accomplished.
This National Monument boasts the largest concentration of Pueblo Indian (Anasazi) ruins in the U.S. with about 6000 recorded archaeological sites! These are just the sites that have been recorded and documented. The ones open to the public are scattered about.
It was a really hot day so I kept my hike to around an hour to be done before it got too hot. The Sand Canyon Trail in it’s entirety is 6 miles and 2069′ of climbing. So, doing the whole thing would either require a shuttle, or make for a longish day. I had neither so I just went out and back from the South Trailhead.
This area gives you a lot of payoff from the start. It’s unique in that you’re hiking up a huge sandstone slab for the first part and then right away the interesting geologic views come into sight. I had a great time in the canyon and would highly recommend doing the whole trail if you can swing the shuttle or long day.
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