Rattlesnake Canyon and Nearby Indian Ruins

Eleven Skyliners hiked to the gaging station in Rattlesnake Canyon on 2 February 2013 and then to Indian ruins located on the east rim of the canyon just south of the gaging station.

We drove north on I-17 from Verde Valley and took the Stoneman Lake Road exit. Turning back under the freeway, we turned as though to enter the freeway on the southbound ramp, but then immediately veered right onto a dirt road (Forest Road 647, though unsigned). About 0.3 miles from the I-17 exit, we came to a very rough section of the road where it crosses a wash. High clearance vehicles, even 4-wheel drive in wet weather, are highly desirable here. The below photograph of this section of road was taken on the return trip.

David Beach wending his way across a small, surprisingly deep, 

water-filled wash

After crossing the wash we drove along a smooth, well-packed dirt road for another 0.5 miles before coming to a 90% right turn. At this point the road started to become rougher and ever more muddy, so we parked after going only about another tenth of a mile. From there we walked along the road for another 0.7 miles to the rim of Rattlesnake Canyon, stepping on rocks and clumps of grass in an attempt to avoid the mud. This photograph below shows the condition of the road along this section.

Rugged road on the way to Rattlesnake Canyon

We soon arrived at the canyon rim above the gaging station and stopped there for a group photograph.

Left to right: Bob Wakefield, Kwi Johnson, David Beach, Dolly  Yapp, 

the author,  Lila Wright, Jim Manning, Janet Wakefield, Daisy Williams 

and Miriam Sterling – photograph by the eleventh hiker using 

the author's camera

In the preceding photograph, the opposite canyon wall can be seen in the background while Munds Mountain dominates the skyline.

The below photograph was taken facing down the canyon from our position on the rim. It is looking out the mouth of Rattlesnake Canyon where it dumps into Woods Canyon. The cluster of white buildings in the center are the Red Rock Ranger District headquarters. On the horizon, Mingus Mountain is shown at the left while Woodchute is seen to the right.

Looking down Rattlesnake Canyon from the rim above the gaging station

From the rim the road winds its way down the canyon wall for about 300 yards, dropping around a 100 feet, before ending at a wide turn-around area. This gets us to the only difficult part of the hike, a steep descent along a not very-well maintained, but easily followed, trail to the gaging station. The turn-around area, located at the edge of the Munds Mountain Wilderness, appears to be a much-used camping area and the point where the trail starts is not clearly defined unless one knows to look for a marked rock (above, right). The two white blobs on the rock are concrete engraved with some odd markings, perhaps something from an Oriental alphabet. The trail starts just to the right of the rock and is faint at first, but easily followed all the way to the gaging station. The below photograph shows its condition on this early February day.

Condition of trail down into Rattlesnake Canyon

Some parts of the trail were very treacherous because of ice-covered rocks, caused by melting snow which had refrozen. But with a little care we all made it to the bottom without mishap. I really don't know whether the gaging station is still in use, but I think it must be because it appears to be very well-maintained. The walkway leading from the canyon wall to the instrument was still in good condition (left), as was a ladder attached to the opposite side of the tower. In fact some of our hikers climbed the ladder and then returned by way of the walkway.

Recent rains and melting snow meant that the stream was flowing strongly and any idea of traveling up or down the streambed had to be abandoned. Instead we just stopped for a snack and spent some time admiring the waterfall, shown below.

Waterfall at the gaging station

Leaving the gaging station and the comforting roar of the waterfall behind, we started out trek back out of the canyon. As we zigzagged our way up to the rim, we could see the promontory (right) that contains the Indian ruins, jutting from the canyon wall less than half a mile downstream from our position.

Although the climb back to the rim was pretty steep, about 300 feet in just over 0.3 miles, we arrived at the top in good condition and set out immediately along the rim to find the Indian ruins. We actually left the road we had followed part way down the canyon wall about fifty yards short of the top to follow another road running south along the rim. This road, well-drained and dry, was easy walking. Unfortunately it soon came to an end and we once again found ourselves hopping along on boulders and clumps of grass to avoid becoming mired in the mud. Fortunately, the ruins were only about three-tenths of a mile away and we soon saw them looming ahead through the trees.

Approaching Indian ruins located on the rim of Rattlesnake Canyon

These ruins seem to have been primarily a fortified defensive position. Attacking from Rattlesnake Canyon would have been impossible and the rock walls built along the eastern flank would have provided good protection from that direction. Attackers would have had to cross a small wash and then climb a slight slope while faced with defenders ensconced behind the rock walls. We saw no signs of any permanent dwellings at the sight, but it would have been a great place for temporarily withstanding an attack while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

Fortifications at the Indian ruins

The ruins were an excellent viewpoint. Looking downstream, we could see out the mouth of the canyon all the way to the Black Hills on the horizon; looking directly across the canyon, we had Munds Mountain on the horizon; while looking upstream and down into the canyon, we had a clear view of the waterfall at the gaging station (left).

We ate lunch amidst the ruins after which we reluctantly gathered our gear and started the hike back to our waiting cars. Rather than return closely along the rim to rejoin Forest Road 647, the route back to where we were parked, we cut across country to shorten the distance. This is shown by the blue line on the included map.

The return hike was relatively short and we were soon in our vehicles and on our way back home. However, Lila had noted a cairn alongside the road at the 90% bend and she remembered it as being the starting point for a hike she did several years ago along part of the old Chavez Trail running between Verde Valley and Winslow (then Sunset Point). We stopped there to examine the cairn (right) and found that it was followed a short distance away by another. Encouraged, we scheduled the Chavez Trail for an exploratory hike later in the month.

Today's hike was only about 2.4 miles round trip. The route from where we parked to the gaging station is shown in red on the included map (below), the short distance from the ruins to connect to Forest Road 649 near where we were parked is shown in blue and the road from I-17 to where we parked is shown in yellow. The elevation change was just over 300 feet; however almost all of this was accounted for in just over three-tenths of a mile.