Woods Canyon Square Tower

There is an old road that provides an easy descent down into Woods Canyon in the Canyons of the Ancients in southwest Colorado. The access is at the corner of County Roads U and 14, west of the community of Yellowjacket, northwest of Cortez, CO along Highway 491.

There is some parking along the road across from one of the carbon dioxide plants in the area. The south leg of the trail leads to a large Ancestral Pueblo ruins site after about 0:45 minutes of hiking.

I continued on the trail past the Woods Canyon Pueblo for another 0:40 minutes until the route seemed to fizzle out in a thick sagebrush field. In the fall, the creek at the bottom of Woods Canyon had a healthy flow of water. The northwest canyon slope appeared easy to climb at this point, so I decided to walk up hill to get a better view. I didn’t realize it, but the mouth of a side canyon was only a short distance ahead.

At the hill top, I had a good view into the side canyon and noticed a square tower perched on the west side cliffs, below the rim. From the distance, I couldn’t see any other structures nearby. This location made it appear that the tower kept a watch on the side canyon entrance. The area below the tower appeared to be steep and I decided just to view the tower from the distance. I was 1:50 hours into my hike at this view point.

I turned back north along the east rim of this side canyon, expecting to see more ruins sites, but didn’t notice anything. I made my way back to the main Woods Canyon and descended back to the canyon floor trail in the vicinity of the Woods Canyon Pueblo. My total hike took 5:30 hours for seven or eight miles. It was a 60 F early November day and I carried 3 liters of water.

Woods Canyon Pueblo on the Rim

The south segment of the Woods Canyon Trail arrives at the base of large Ancestral Pueblo ruins site in Woods Canyon in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado. This trail starts west of the town of Yellow Jacket on County Road U west of County Road 14 in front of a small industrial facility.

There are many rubble pile ruins on the canyon slope and some intact wall sections in the sheltered area just below the canyon rim. On this hike I was trying to find a route to the rim, above the sheltered area.

From below, there are some structures visible above the rim, but steep cliffs prevent easy access to the mesa top area. I looked to the left or west side of the large site for a route up to the rim. It took me 0:45 minutes to arrive at the base of the site from the trailhead and another 0:30 minutes to find a way to the mesa top ruins area.

There are several large rubble pile structures up above and they are all very close to the rim, with broad views over Woods Canyon and Sleeping Ute Mountain visible in the distance.

There is one good section of wall still standing. This looks like the back wall of a square structure and this is the one that can be spotted easily from below. The old road that acts as the Woods Canyon Trail leading to the site is clearly visible down below.

On the return hike I stayed closer to the edge of the rim and found a shorter route down, than the way I came up, that connects to a trail that visits the several small sites that are just below the rim. From below the rim, this trail winds left around a cliff corner and there are some rocks arranged that have been secured with a T post to aid in the climb up or down. This vague trail leads past the small room block that is on the left or west side of the overall site.

There are a couple of more small structures along the under the rim trail and eventually the trail leads to the larger wall sections that catch most of the attention. From this side of the site, there are some cow trails to look for that make the descent a little easier than from below the larger wall sections.

The approach from the left side also allows a close view the three large boulder based structures that are near the bottom of the canyon slope. My total hike took 4:00 hours for about 5 miles on an early July morning. The temperature at 9:00 AM was about 65 F degrees and it was about 85 F degrees at 1:00 PM when I finished. I carried and drank 3 liters of water.

On this hike I knew where the site was when I started and didn’t spend any time searching, as is often the case. There is a lot to see at this large site.

Woods Canyon Pueblo Trail

The south leg of the Woods Canyon Trail leads to the large Woods Canyon Pueblo in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado.

 The trail head is on County Road U west of County Road 15 across the road from one of the Carbon Dioxide gas plants. This area is near the town of Yellow Jacket, CO and west of Highway 491.

The trail follows an old road down into a side canyon and then into the main Woods Canyon to a junction that allows travel north and south. For this hike I turned south toward and then under the major power lines that cross the canyon a short distance to the south. From the trail junction there is also a large Ancestral Pueblo ruins site about 1 mile to the north.

A few hundred yards past the power lines some cliffs become visible on the west side. With binoculars, some wall sections of a ruins site are visible just below the canyon rim. There is a creek with flowing water between the trail and the ruins site. Parts of the creek bottom are very thick with vegetation.

I continued on the trail a little south of the ruins site until I found an area where the vegetation thinned out and the creek could be easily crossed. I didn’t see a trail going up to the ruins site. A short distance up the canyon side, rubble pile ruins structures start to appear and there are many of them.

The climb up to the standing wall sections is steep and a little treacherous. From below, some wall sections on the canyon rim are visible but I couldn’t see them from the ledge just below the rim. I didn’t see any easy way to get onto the rim from the ledge. (On a later hike I found a route that connects to the trail along the ledge under the rim.)

Besides the most obvious below the rim wall sections, there are others visible along the rim to the south and maybe some storage sites to the north.

From the elevated position there are views up and down Woods Canyon. Several of the large boulders to the south show rubble remains on top and there are many rubble mounds down the canyon side hidden by the Pinon Pine and Juniper forest.

The Woods Canyon Creek appears to have year round water and some of the pools support cattails and bulrush. I saw at least one large cottonwood tree in the canyon bottom. There are also fields of sagebrush visible, indicating good soils for farming. Woods Canyon appears to be a relatively lush location that could have supported large villages.

I returned after visiting this site, but the trail appears to continue further south. My return hike to the trail head from the ruins just below the rim took about 1:00 hour for a distance of about 2 miles.

I spent 4:00 hours total on this hike but much of it was spent exploring the side canyon west of the trail junction. That side canyon looked promising but I didn’t find anything but good views. I carried 2 liters of water on a 70 degree F partly cloudy day in late August.