The best hike in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
I have been to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument a couple times, and this is my absolute favorite hike within the monument. This is a long hike, but it is relatively simple. There is not much elevation gain unless you decide to hike out of the canyon. There are so many unique archaeological sites along this route. You should add this hike to your itinerary when you visit Canyons of the Ancients.
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Canyons of the Ancients Sand Canyon Trail
The Sand Canyon Trail in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is my current favorite trail in the monument. You can hike this trail from north to south or south to north. If you hike the trail in one go, it is over 13 miles roundtrip. This is not how I recommend hiking the trail. On the northern end of the trail, the Sand Canyon Pueblo is well worth a visit, but I would simply hike to check out the pueblo and return to your vehicle. The rest of the northern portion of the trail is nice and worth the hike if you have time, but it does not take you past any ruins like the southern portion of the trail does.
I would instead drive to the Sand Canyon South Trailhead. This hike will still wind up being around 9- or 10-miles roundtrip depending on the number of ruins you visit. You can see all of the ruins and still turn around before the 0.5 mile and 700-foot elevation gain portion of the trail that climbs out of the canyon. As long as you are on this trailhead, I also recommend adding on a bit of the southern portion of the Lower SC Connect Trail as it takes you past a few more ruins without adding a ton of distance to your hike. You can check out maps for this trailhead on Alltrails here.
There are so many neat ruins along this hike that are all worth the visit. Some are across the canyon, so keep an eye out for other well-preserved ruins in the distance. Keep in mind that these are ancient sites and are protected by law, so be respectful of the sites and take only pictures. Help keep these sites well-preserved for future visitors and out of respect for the former inhabitants. After your hike, be sure to drop by the beautiful Sutcliffe Vineyards, to sample some wine and enjoy the exquisite views from their property.
The trails in this this area provide numerous views of fairly well-preserved ruins. This ruin is located along the Lower SC Connect Trail.
More of the neat ruins along the Sand Canyon Trail
One of the many ruins you can visit along the trail
Hiking along the canyon would be beautiful enough even if there were not so many neat ruins to see
The view from the northern portion of the trail looking into the canyon where the ruins are
If you visit Canyons of the Ancients:
On each of my visits to this National Monument, I stayed at a different hotel. I would recommend both of these hotels for your visit to the area. The first time I visited, I stayed at the Best Western Turquoise Inn & Suites. This hotel is moderately priced and provides quick access to the monument. The hotel also has a really nice seasonal outdoor swimming pool and an amazing indoor hot tub. The indoor hot tub is huge and has a cool waterfall feature. The hotel also has breakfast so you can eat some food before venturing into the monument.
The second time I visited Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, I stayed at the Baymont by Wyndham Cortez. This was also a great place to stay with a unique indoor pool and a heart shaped hot tub. This hotel also had breakfast available for getting in some nourishment before hiking in the monument all day. You can read more about each of these hotel properties in my article about where to stay in Cortez here.
