Horse Trails into Rock Creek Canyon

There are seven or eight small Ancestral Pueblo Ruins sites in Rock Creek Canyon that are visible from the East Rock Creek Trail at about the 2.0 mile mark when hiking along the east rim. There are horse trails down in the canyon to follow to visit these sites. The East Rock Creek Trail is a side loop off of the Sand Canyon Trail, 12 miles west of Cortez on County Road G in southwest Colorado.

I followed the East Rock Creek Trail to the 1.5 mile post near the canyon rim, then turned south along the horse trail for a few hundred yards until I found a path that leads down into the canyon. In the area of the trail post there is a steep drop off. In the canyon bottom there are horse trails that follow along the creek bed. Following north for about 0.7 miles, there are two minor sites in the first side canyon to the right. There is a good granary here and a wall section. I had to look around to find the notch to climb up on the shelf to see the sites. (In 2011 these side trails are considered closed.)

Back at the creek, look for a horse trail that heads west across the canyon toward a rock outcrop in the center, there are some wall sections on top of the outcrop and rubble piles around the base. This site is somewhat like the Castle Rock site at the Sand Canyon Trail Head. Around the north side someone has leaned a log that looks like a primitive ladder.
 

A short distance further west, directly toward the west wall in another small site with tall walls forming an odd narrow room, with a lower walled room to the left.
 

The horse trail then follows north along the west canyon wall to a larger alcove ruins. This one is visible a mile away when approaching from the south. The horse trail continues further north but I only followed it about 100 yards and then retraced my steps. Between this site and the narrow wall site, there is another castle rock type site that is mostly rubble piles.

From the west wall sites, I retraced my steps back to the creek bed along the east wall and then continued north along the creek bed. Past a barbed wire fence there is a horse trail leading east up the south side of another side canyon. A spur trail leads across to this site on the north side of the side canyon. This site is more than just the alcove cliff dwelling.
 

Below the cliff dwelling, there are large rubble piles and the remains of a circular structure. Returning to back to the horse trail it continued further east and climbed back up to make an obscure junction with the East Rock Creek Trail, making a loop hike possible. This junction is barely noticeable and is before the 2.5 mile post, so it is shorter to hike back counter clockwise around the East Rock Creek Trail, though clockwise will work also. My hike along the horse trails was about 6 miles and took about 4:00 hours.

Small Ruins Visible in Rock Creek Canyon

The East Rock Creek Trail was the 5 mile loop off of the Sand Canyon Trail in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado about 12 miles west of Cortez. In 2011 there has been some renaming and reorganization.

About half way between the 1.5 and 2.5 mile posts clockwise around the old loop, there are at least seven small Ancestral Pueblo Ruins visible from the trail west across the Rock Creek Canyon.



This pair of structures is about 0.25 miles south of 2.5 mile post. They are in the northern of two side canyons off of the Rock Creek Canyon. Below these two alcove structures there are the rubble piles of a pueblo.
Two more small sites are in the southern east pointing side canyon. The East Rock Creek Trail skirts along the edge of this side canyon, but the sites are somewhat obscured by the Pinon Pine and Juniper forest and are off to the west, not easily noticed when hiking and looking straight ahead. The site to the left looks like a good granary.

Binoculars are handy to view these somewhat distant sites. There is a site on the far canyon wall in the middle of this view. The rock outcrop in the middle of the canyon floor is also a ruins site, but not easy to see from the rim.

 It is good strategy to spot these sites before hiking down into the canyon for closer views, so you know what you are looking for and where they are in relation to each other. (However, in 2011 the side trail down for the closer look is considered to be closed.)

A little to the north of the previous two sites there is another alcove site. This alcove is visible a long distance away and was the first one visible approaching from the south.

The officially unnamed Rock Creek Trail (in 2011 renamed the East Rock Creek Trail) passes above these sites but they aren't visible from the trail. There are at least four sites in the first 1.5 miles of the East Rock Creek Trail, and two on the last leg returning to the trail head. With these seven, there are at least 13 small ruins to view within the 5.0 mile hike.

In the early sections of the trail the geologic layer, Entrada Sandstone, that forms good alcoves is above the trail, but this layer descends below the trail in the middle part of the hike.

East Rock Creek Loop Trail (Old System)

The East Rock Creek Trail is a 5.0 mile loop off of the South Trail Head of the 6.5 mile Sand Canyon Trail in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado. The main trail head is 12 miles west of Cortez, CO on County Road G.

The trail junctions of the East Rock Creek Trail are at the 0.25 point and about 1.8 miles on the Sand Canyon Trail and are clearly marked. This is just past the large Castle Rock formation and ruins site that looms above the slickrock near the trail head. (In 2011 the formerly unnamed loop into the east fork of Rock Creek Canyon is now the East Rock Creek Trail. The segments mentioned here are now called Connecting Trails.)

This trail has scenery typical of the high desert country seen in the Four Corners area, lots of Pinon Pines and Utah Juniper trees with eroded layers of rock stacked together and mountains or canyons in the distance. Turning at the 0.25 mile mark and heading west there are at least four small ruins sites in the first 1.5 miles. (This segment is the south Connecting Trail.)

Three of the four ruins that are obvious are associated with rock alcoves that face the south. This one is the most extensive.

The trail continues north along the east side of the Rock Creek Canyon. There are two trail posts indicating trail junctions with unnamed trails that explore the two forks of Rock Creek Canyon. At the second trail post at 2.5 miles, the 2011 Connecting East Rock Creek Trail turns east and climbs to the mesa area between Rock Creek Canyon and Sand Canyon.  (The 2011 East Rock Creek Trail stays north. )

There are at least seven ruins visible between the 1.5 and 2.5 mile trail posts. They are down in Rock Creek Canyon to the west and are easy to miss as they are not right along the trail. It is helpful to have binoculars to view them. There is a large arch that I've called Rock Creek Arch another 20 minutes along the formenrly unnamed trail (the 2011 East Rock Creek Trail) that continues north.

Just above the trail junction there is an odd small hole in the side of the hill that appears to be a mining effort. The views are good from the elevated area with a spur trail leading to the edge of the mesa.

It is 0.75 miles across the mesa area to the connection with the Sand Canyon Trail. Along the return route to the trail head there are several spur trails to at least two small ruins sites along the south end of this scenic trail.

One of the two sites is known as Saddle Horn Ruins, the only one with a well known name. (In 2011 several of the other sites on the Sand Canyon Trail have publicized names.) I usually spend about 3:00 hours on this loop with stops to view the ruins.

East Rock Creek Trail near Sand Canyon

At the lower trail head for the 6.5 mile Sand Canyon Trail in Canyons of the Ancients NM in southwest Colorado, there are connectiong trails for East Rock Creek Trail  at 0.25 miles and about 2.0 miles. There is a 5.0 mile loop hike using both connections. In 2011 there has been some reorganization of the trail system.

This trail head is about 12 miles west of Cortez, CO on County Road G. The old East Rock Creek loop  has a renamed side loop that is the new East Rock Creek Trail. It circles around the East Fork Canyon and connects back to the Sand Canyon trail head for about a 7.0 mile hike.

At the trail head, the Castle Rock formation towers over the area. There is a large Ancestral Pueblo ruins site arrayed around Castle Rock and a small arch in the upper west corner. A large section of intact wall is visible on the back side of Castle Rock.


The south connecting trail segment features at least four small ruins sites. Three are associated with alcoves but one wall section appears to be sitting on top of the mesa, something of a penthouse location. At the 2.5 mile post the new East Rock Creek Trail continues north while the old route connecting trail turns back east. (Pictures of the ruins along the connection loop are on the Old System post.)

About one mile further down the East Rock Creek loop, a large arch appears on the right. It is possible to climb up closer and see blue sky through the arch. This large arch doesn't seem to get much attention despite being a major feature.

The Rock Creek trail appears to get use from mountain bikers and horse riders but less from hikers. The trail circles around this short but deep canyon. I didn't see any more ruins sites up this otherwise scenic canyon. (I saw more sites on a later hike but there are in the canyon floor area below the trail and easy to miss.)

Toward the last segments of the hike there is another formenrly unnamed side loop, in 2011 named the  Rock Creek Trail, that goes around the West Fork of Rock Creek. This is another option in the Sand Canyon Trail system.

There is one more option on this route. The trail splits about one mile from the end and one can choose the "Horses not Recommended" trail or the Ok for Horses route. The not for horses segment passes over several segments of slickrock and along some sandstone cliffs with Castle Rock coming back into view.

The slick rock option is more interesting for hikers, giving better views and variety of terrain. It took me 3:30 hours to walk the East Rock Creek Trail route.

Rock Creek Arch

The East Rock Creek Trail was formerly an unnamed seven mile side trail off of the popular East Rock Creek loop of the Sand Canyon Trail in Canyon of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado, west of Cortez. In 2011, there has been some trail reorganization and the route has been renamed as the East Rock Creek Trail. Segements of the former East Rock Creek Loop are now called connecting trails. About 3.0 miles along the route there is a very large and seemingly little known arch.


The main trail comes around a corner and heads up the east fork of Rock Canyon. Suddenly high up on the right is a large arch. The trail head maps and information make no mention of this large feature and it was a complete surprise to see it. It is possible to work your way uphill toward the arch from the right. There is a faint trail going up that appears but it seems to start at a point before you actually see the arch.

I was able to get under far enough to get the blue sky through the arch view. This is a very large and graceful arch but there seems to be little information about it.

From under the arch there is a good view further up this short but wide and deep canyon. The arch is easily visible all the way around the East Fork canyon rim and trail. It took me about 1:30 hours to hike to the Rock Creek Arch and 3:30 hours to travel the 2011 East Rock Creek Loop.