Arch Canyon and Walnut Knob
Arch Canyon has ruins and three arches, explore Walnut Knob to see amazing petroglyphs of hunting parties and game
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Fallen Roof Ruin in Road Canyon
“Fallen Roof Ruin” gets its name from the pattern created by the missing slabs of rock that fell out of the alcove it sits in
Road Canyon contains many ruins, granaries, and kivas, some are easier to get to than others. Fallen Roof Ruin is one of the easier ones to reach.
The site contains four small rooms made from stacked stone, the fourth on the left end is the least intact, the other three are in very good condition.
Note
(Near the Citadel Hike, Seven Kivas hike)
Cost
Day fee $5.00, Week fee $10, Annual Pass $40
Fee station is near trailhead parking, fill out form deposit in box, put permit in window of vehicle
Getting to Fallen Roof Ruin, Road Canyon trailhead
- On UT-261, about 13.5 miles south of UT-95, turn left on Cigarette Spring Road (CR-239) at ( 37.382000, -109.843786 ).
- Stop at the self-register/fee station, located about 1 mile from the turnoff, drive straight ahead until you reach an unmarked spur road 2.4 miles further on your left.
- Turn onto this road, going north for a couple of hundred feet until you find an obvious pullout and a small trail marker at ( 37.390487, -109.889072 ).
Note
- Coming from Moki dugout Google maps will try to take you via a 4×4 jeep trail only passable with high clearance
- Dogs okay
- Binoculars
- Hiking poles
Parking
37.390322, -109.888666
Photo advice
The best light is in mid-morning when the ruin is still in shadow and the light bounces up under the alcove
Distance
2.2 miles total out and back with 300 feet difference in elevation
Route
From the trailhead, follow the well-defined trail through the pinon pine forest for 0.3-mile taking you to the canyon rim where you will descend into what is a side canyon to the Road Canyon.
Descend into the steep route in the side canyon just watch for the trail, it is sometimes faint sometimes well-worn.
Continue east-northeast for a short time until the side canyon meets Road Canyon. At this junction turn right, proceeding eastward into Road Canyon on a now even more obvious trail.
In a few hundred yards a tall single and distinct hoodoo comes into view on the left side. In about 1 minute down the canyon from this hoodoo start looking to your left to start ascending the ledges at ( 37.3962078N, 109.8735569W ).
Make your way up on the ledges continuing down the canyon, the ruin is not hard to see and access, it is perched more than a hundred feet above the canyon floor ( 37.396111, -109.872500 ) but easy to reach.
After photographing Fallen Roof Ruin, stay high on the ledges to the right of the ruin canyon continuing down the canyon east, you will see a granary which you can reach by continuing on the same narrow ledge in just a few minutes.
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