Coon Creek Ruins

Weather:  66º, sun and clouds

About this Hike:  The Native ruin sites in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness have been on my All Trails list for some time. Today I decided to pull the trigger on actually visiting the Coon Creek site. 

Parking off of FR 203 was a bit of a challenge. We located a big campsite that made for a safe parking spot. With a good map, we were easily able to modify the original hiking route, as this parking spot was past the FR 38 trailhead. This hike isn't really on trails, but rather on Jeep roads. The Jeep roads are narrow and very rocky and aren't the most pleasant hiking surface on the feet. One can drive an OHV back here and shave considerable time off the hike. 

As rust-colored cliffs came into view, the Jeep trail eventually gave out to a faint footpath. People have made all sorts of side trails, and staying on the correct one can be a challenge. A good hiking GPS is helpful here. 

Near the creek bottom the trail traverses a sandy flat with a number of scrubby trees. Cow pies are everywhere and stepping in them is pretty much inevitable. Perhaps due to this year's abysmal winter precipitation we saw no cows on this hike. Coon Creek was bone dry. 

The actual hike up the cliffside was a bit of a scramble, but not too bad. Vegetation provided plenty of handholds for the steeper sections. The reward was getting to see estimated 700 year old Salado cliff dwellings. Most of the pueblos are still surprisingly intact. The adobe walls and juniper log ceiling beams are a fascinating look back at historical architecture. 

Of course people carved their names into the those juniper beams. And the one pueblo has soot covering a lot of the interior, making me think someone lit a campfire in there at some point. 

The trail up the cliffside is very obvious. It's marked by a green gate and half a barbed wire fence. It appears this project isn't complete yet, as spools of fresh barbed wire lay on the ground. I wonder if this area is going to be closed off soon to prevent more social-media idiots from damaging the ruins? 

If that's the case, I'm glad to have (respectfully) enjoyed this piece of the Arizona's Native history.