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All the United States Arizona Nankoweap Granaries
AO Edited

Nankoweap Granaries

Hike up to this ancestral grain storage site, but don't touch.

North Rim, Arizona

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rkjock1
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Nankoweap Granary   rkjock1 / Atlas Obscura User
Nankoweap Granary   rkjock1 / Atlas Obscura User
The two sets of grain storage rooms.   rkjock1 / Atlas Obscura User
Looking downriver from the cliff face.   rkjock1 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

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. 

Related Tags

History & Culture Native Americans Stone Grains Indigenous

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. 

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rkjock1

Edited By

Collector of Experiences

  • Collector of Experiences

Published

October 28, 2024

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  • https://www.theoutbound.com/arizona/hiking/hike-and-camp-at-nankoweap-granaries
  • https://www.westernriver.com/grand-canyon-vacation/mile-by-mile-53-nankoweap-canyon-and-granaries
Nankoweap Granaries
Nankoweap Granary
North Rim, Arizona, 86052
United States
36.299874, -111.864256
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