Rim Trail – Walnut Canyon National Monument AZ

Description

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from the Mt. Elden Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near Flagstaff worked at Walnut Canyon National Monument from 1938 to 1942.

Among other work, the CCC crews almost surely built the Rim Trail, which departs from the Visitors’ Center and heads east for roughly a quarter-mile along the north rim of Walnut Canyon, ending at a stone terrace observation point.

All the sources omit this trail to focus on the Island Trail in discussing the work of the CCC at Walnut Canyon, but the stone work and railings at the Rim Trail and observation terrace are similar to those of the Island Trail.  Hence, we are confident that the Rim Trail is CCC work, although this needs further confirmation.

Walnut Canyon is an important site of cliff dwellings left by the Sinagua people, who occupied the site c. 1125-1250 C.E.  There are a couple hundred dwelling units tucked into the cliffs on both sides of the canyon, but the focus of the archeological work was along the Island Trail, which the CCC built to provide access to a number of ruins.