Island Trail at
WALNUT CANYON
PRICE 10 CENTS IF YOU TAKE THIS BOOKLET HOME
or you may use it free of charge, returning it to the register stand when you leave....
WALNUT CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT
11 MILES EAST OF FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA.
Birdseye view of the “Island” Trail at Walnut Canyon National Monument
The National Park System, of which Walnut CanyonNational Monument is a unit, is dedicated to the conservationof America’s scenic, scientific, and historicheritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICEConrad L. Wirth, Director
A Guide to
THE “ISLAND” TRAIL
The National Park Service sincerely welcomes you to Walnut Canyon National Monument.
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In order to insure your safety and to preserve the unspoiledbeauty of your National Monument, as well as protect its valuablearcheological and historic structures, we urgently requestyour cooperation in observing the following rules and regulations!
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Please do not roll or throw rocks, pick flowers, molest any wildlife, or collect specimens of any kind.
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U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Southwestern National Monuments
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At the observation point a self-guiding trail begins which will takeyou down and around the “Island” in the Canyon. There is a drop of 185feet by ramp and stairway to the “Saddle.” From there the trail is comparativelyflat, and completely encircles the “Island” at the level ofthe ruins. You will visit several, and be able to see more than 100 of the400 small cliff dwellings of Walnut Canyon.
Numbered markers along the trail refer to paragraphs in this bookletwhich explain features of interest at each marker. When you come tonumbered markers please read the paragraph with the correspondingnumber.
Please watch your step at all times. The total length of the trail isfive-eighths of a mile and the average time consumed is 40 minutes.
STAKE NO. 1.
General view of canyon. From this pointyou will observe that the canyon makes a large “horse shoe” bend leavingan “Island” connected to this side by the narrow neck of land we call the“Saddle.” It is in this small section of the canyon that there is the heaviestconcentration of prehistoric cliff-dwellings.
From here you are able to discern the distinctly different types ofvegetation growing on opposite sides of the canyon. On the north side(or southern exposure) we see many of the desert type plants native tosouthern Arizona. On the other side we have the types common in thehigher and colder elevations.
Walnut Creek, the stream which cut the canyon, was dammed in1904 to form Lake Ma