Leslie and David's Wanderings: 3 April 2021 Canyon of the Ancients National Monument

Canyon of the Ancients National Monument is run by the BLM. It was made a NM in 2000. Composed of over 170,000 acres with over 5600 documented archeological sites and an estimated 30,000 sites undocumented, the NM contains the highest concentration of Pueblo ruins in the USA. The Anasazi Heritage Center, the defacto NM visitor center, was just up the road from us. But of course it was closed due to COVID. But there was a box with maps and suggestions for activities. Behind the center, on the top of a hill over looking McPhee Reservoir was the Escalante Pueblo ruins. It’s not clear why they built this pueblo on this high hill considering they would have to haul everything up the hill (food, water, building materials) everyday. But the views of Sleeping Ute Mountain were spectacular. We then headed out to Lowery Pueblo, about a 45 mile drive. The roads were in good shape and it was a pretty drive across the mesa top. The Lowery pueblo ruins were interesting. They had a roof built over part of the ruins which included a large Kiva. We were able to actually go into these ruins (BLM has relaxed rules) and see the Kiva. Outside the main complex was one of only 100 know Great Kivas. The architectural sophistication of these early ruins is amazing. We then drove another 30 miles to Painted Hand Pueblo. The last ½ mile to the trailhead for these ruins was a bit rough. The trail out to the Pueblo was not well marked and the trail ended at a drop off. Not feeling like risking life and limb to climb down, we walked along the rim and observed to ruins from the rim. Interestingly, this is the same road you would take to get to the Hovenweep Cutthroat ruins so the private property issue must be further down the road. Having seen enough ruins for a lifetime, we headed back to Cortez and decided to seek out a brewery. We stopped at the Main Street Brewery. The beer was pretty good, but we were disappointed by the pizza we ordered for dinner.

Over beers, we discussed whether we should attempt to get to Yucca House NM or not. The park service says the park is open, but the Colorado Welcome Center people indicated there was an ongoing dispute between the landowner where the road crosses private property leading up to the parking area. The park service claims access based on a 1939 land access grant by the original land donor. The park is undeveloped with no marked trails, visitor center, or informational signs. The park is one of the smallest in the park system and protects a group of ruins with 600 rooms and 100 Kiva’s and one great Kiva in raw unexcavated state. In 2020, congress passed legislation that expanded the park boundaries to take in an additional 160 acres that was donated by another landowner to provide for an access corridor to the ruins from public roads. Not wanting to get caught up in a land dispute, and possibly getting shot at, we decided to call Yucca House done.