Lomaki Ruins Trail

The Lomaki Trail is 0.5 miles to three Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites in Wupatki National Monument in northeast Arizona. Wupatki is north of Flagstaff, AZ along Highway 89. The trail has several interpretive signs along the way.

Two of the ruins sites are called the Box Canyon Ruins, perched on the edge of a feature called an Earth Crack. The Earth Cracks in the Kaibab Limestone were caused by the volcanic activity to the south. This area is called the Antelope Prairie, a dry, windswept grassland. Along the earth crack the soil catches enough moisture to allow farming corn and squash. The building stones here are a mix of sandstone and limestone.

At the distant end of the trail is Lomaki Ruin, positioned at the edge of the earth crack, and spilling down into it. Visitors can walk through and look into some of the rooms.

Looking back to the south there are good views toward the Box Canyon Ruins and the San Francisco Peaks. The stones used in building here appear to longer and flatter than the more loaf style sandstone bricks that seem to dominate the Mesa Verde region to the north and east of here.

There are more ruins sites along this earth crack than the three that the trail visits. At least two more can be seen along the road as visitors arrive at the parking area. This short walk takes about 30 minutes, depending on how long you want to linger.