Nankoweap Granaries

Nankoweap Granary rkjock1 (Atlas Obscura User)

Seven hundred feet above the banks of the Colorado River, hikers can find what looks like a collection of square windows cut into the sandstone. The carvings were made around the year 1100 by the Ancestral Puebloan people. The cutouts served as grain storage facilities that were designed to be sealed, protecting food stores from seasonal flooding, rodents, and insects.

The ruins are most easily accessed from the Colorado River, at a beach 53 miles downstream from Lee’s Ferry. Once there, it is a moderate two-mile hike up the cliff face.

Although visitors can get quite close to the remains, they are not allowed to touch the stone, in order to preserve what remains.

Know Before You Go

There is also an unmaintained hiking path down to the ruins that can be accessed from above, called the Nankoweap Trail. However, it is considered by the NPS to be one of the most difficult in the Canyon.