Cow Canyon East of Lowry Ruins

The Lowry Ruins site, 9 miles west of Pleasant View Colorado along County Road CC, is the center of the large Cow Canyon Ancestral Pueblo community. For this hike I navigated southeast about 0.5 miles through the Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper forest, looking for the west rim of the east fork of Cow Canyon.

There isn’t a trail to follow and I used a compass to guide my direction. The forest is open enough to hike through, with only the fallen Pinon Pines to avoid. I arrived at a point that is about 0.5 miles south and east of Lowry Ruin. From this view point I was luckily only about 200 yards up canyon from two large ruins sites, one on each side of the canyon. They are in this view, but mostly obscured by the forest.

I noticed the site on the opposite side of the canyon first. It appears to be a large rubble pile that is overgrown with sage brush. Looking at it with binoculars, I could see a small wall section below the rim in an alcove and more rubble on the slope below the rim.

The site on the west rim appears to be much larger. There are very large and extensive rubble piles on the west rim. This site is much like the interpreted Sand Canyon Pueblo site in size and appearance.

I found a notch in the cliffs to get below the rim. The site is as large below the rim as it is above. The slope is steep in spots and there is tangled vegetation in the way so the walking below isn’t very easy. There are at least two boulder top building sites, but I didn’t see any wall sections that had held together here. I didn’t try to cross the canyon to get to the site on the other side.

There is about 0.5 miles of west rim south of this large site to follow out to the lookout point overlooking Cow Canyon as it makes a swing toward the west. I noticed a possible collapsed tower site perched on a boulder about half way to the point and another more definite boulder top collapsed tower just before the point.

The view of the tower from the lookout point is good and it is possible to descend to get a closer view, but I didn’t go all the way down. This site appears to be isolated. I returned to Lowry Ruins on the dirt road that runs straight south from the parking area. I spent 2:40 minutes on this 2.5 mile hike on a 65 F degree early May day.

Burro Canyon North Rim Trail

The Burro Canyon North Rim Trail is the one lane gravel road that makes a junction with County Road N 0.6 miles west of Canyon of the Ancients entrance sign. This entrance is 1.2 miles west of the north trailhead for the popular Sand Canyon Trail northwest of Cortez in southwest Colorado. (In spring of 2012 there is some new gas well activity along this road that probably restricts access by vehicles until the activity is complete.)

The gravel road runs about 3.5 miles west to a lookout point facing the junction of Burro Canyon and Yellowjacket Canyon. There are several dirt side roads along the way. The first 2 miles or so pass through mesa top Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper forest with patches of sagebrush without any wide views.

This area has some carbon dioxide gas well development with some of the facilities visible in the distance. The hiking is easy on the mostly level gravel road.

After about 1.2 miles or so I turned south on one of the side roads that had a old fence on the east side. This road went about 100 yards south, then turned west and ran parallel to the main gravel road for about 1 mile.

Along this side road there is a mesa top ruins site that is visible as rubble mounds. There are several large mounds with a depression between the mounds. The side dirt road loops back to make a junction with the main gravel road.

Past the junction the road is closer to the canyon rims on both the north and south and the views are better. The south facing cliffs looked like good locations for ruins sites but I didn’t spot anything. The cliffs in this area have many joints and gaps between them.

The road continues out to a point with good views toward the canyon junctions to the west. On the return hike I tried to follow cow trails back to the east that were closer to the south facing rim and pass through a different section of mesa top. It seems like there should be more ruins sites in this area, but I didn’t spot any.

I did see some isolated pottery shards, one with some black on white design. I was able to spot the boulder top lookout point ruins site across the canyon that I had visited on a previous Burro Canyon south rim hike, but didn’t see any others this time. The boulder top site stood out even though it was about 0.5 miles away. My total hike took 3:30 hours for about 7 miles on a 50 F degree early May day. I carried and drank 2 liters of water. (There are more ruins sites in this area. I just didn't find them on this hike.)

Burro Canyon South Rim Trail

The north trail head of the popular Sand Canyon Trail is west of Highway 491 on County Road N near Cortez in southwest Colorado. About 1.2 miles west of the Sand Canyon Trailhead, the County Road re-enters the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. 

About 3.6 miles west of the entry sign, there is a cleared area with some gas facilities and a good view along the south rim of Burro Canyon.

From this starting point the Burro Canyon area looks like two parallel canyons with two high mesa top islands in between. The terrain here appeared to be all Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper forest with no obvious sage brush fields down below. There are large power lines along the well maintained gravel road that are helpful for navigation. 

I chose to hike toward the south facing cliffs on the mesa top island that looked to be about 1 mile north and slightly east. There isn’t a trail here except for deer trails but the forest is open enough for reasonable hiking. As I got closer, there appeared to be a rubble pile in the east end of the mesa top island and some wall sections in the area below the rim. There is a climb up through a boulder area to get up to just below the rim.

There are several rough wall sections and a moderate sized site below the rubble pile. About 20 yards to the left of the lower site there is a notch that makes climbing to the rim easy. The upper site has a better wall section that can be seen from below and excellent views across and down the canyon.

The structure is on a boulder with a gap separating it from the main cliffs. This site certainly has the appearance of a lookout point. The start point for this hike is clearly visible across the canyon.

It is only about 200 yards across the island mesa top to the north rim and the views across. I was surprised to spot a similar boulder top structure on this north facing rim with some masonry work around the base and a log leaning as if it were a ladder. This site is slightly below the highest rim, requiring a search for a notch to get through a short cliff layer.

                                                                                 

From the north rim it is a short walk to the west rim and a view down canyon toward the junction with Yellowjacket Canyon. Several of the regional mountain ranges are visible from these mesa top view points, There is an old road in the area below that lead up to another mesa top island. I think the old road starts somewhere along the south rim, dips down into Burro Canyon and then climbs toward the mesa top island.

On the return east along the rim toward the first mesa top site I spotted another site that is about 200 yards to the west of the first site. I only looked at this site from the rim. It isn’t very visible from below.

It took me 2:00 hours to reach the first ruins site, but I spent much of that time looking and scanning and deciding which way to go. I spent 1:00 hour viewing the sites and the return hike took 1:00 hour for a total of 4:00 hours for about 4 miles of hiking. I carried and drank two liters of water on a 60 F degree late April day.

Yellowjacket Canyon East Rim Round Tower

Yellowjacket Canyon is one of the major features in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado. There is access to the central part of Yellowjacket along the BLM road that is 20 miles west of Cortez, CO along County Road G. Yellowjacket in this area has a broad flat bottoms area with deep soil and a stream that runs for most of the year.

I started my hike 4.6 miles along the BLM road at a point where there is a short ATV trail to the left leading to a rocky hill that provides a good view into the canyon bottom. The main road continues into the canyon bottom, but is blocked by a locked gate and a private property sign. I hiked north along the east rim following small drainages and deer trails, working toward a rocky point that extended toward the middle of the canyon. This route stays on the National Monument land.

Toward the end of the rocky point there is a circular tower ruins structure that sits on the edge of a cliff, but not on the mesa top. It is about halfway to the bottoms area. It seems to be an isolated structure with a good view down the canyon to the south. It can be sighted with binoculars from the top of the large pueblo site that is about 1 mile away, down the canyon. There is a layer of cliffs to get through to get down to the layer holding the tower. It looked like the easiest way down was to continue past the tower toward the end of the rocky point.

The tower is so close to the cliff edge that it is impossible to get a view from the front, only side and back views are available. There are side channels flowing into the Yellowjacket Creek that are deeply cut, showing how deep the soil is here. I didn’t see any pottery shards around this site or any rock art nearby. Tower structures are common in this region but the use of them is a mystery. This one seems to be positioned as a lookout and there is a line of sight connection down canyon, but not up canyon.

Climbing back to the mesa top and looking up canyon, there is a rocky hill that appears as an island in the otherwise flat canyon bottom. With binoculars a ruins site on top of the hill can be clearly viewed, mostly rubble with a few small wall sections standing. This site would be easy to visit if it wasn’t on the private property. To the east of the small hill, there is a rock outcrop with some small alcoves. It looked like there might be a storage ruin in one of the alcoves.

Further up the canyon, there are irrigated hay fields and a large ranch house. I couldn’t spot any more ruins structures along the east rim from the tower area. I spent 3:00 hours on this hike of about 4 miles. It was a 65 F degree early April day and I carried and drank 2 liters of water.

Risley Canyon to Yellow Jacket Canyon Village

Risley Canyon is a tributary to Yellow Jacket Canyon in the south central part of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado. The trail head that I used to explore this area is 3.4 miles north on the BLM road that is 20 miles west of Cortez, CO along County Road G.

This starting point is high on the south side before descending into and crossing Risley Canyon. It is a little north of the starting points for hikes to Cannonball Mesa and the Lucy’s Warbler habitat area. The road is still drivable along here and there are ATV trails branching off here and there.

The Lucy’s Warbler hike is along the south rim of Risley Canyon to its junction with Yellowjacket Canyon. The terrain along here is Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper canyon country with Mormon Tea, Prickly Pear Cactus and maybe Cliff Rose shrubs. Risley Canyon doesn’t appear to have much water or sagebrush fields nearby.

About 1.2 miles further north along the road is a short west leading side ATV trail toward a hill with some south facing cliffs and jumbled boulders. I checked for ruins structures but only saw a few pottery shards. On top of the hill is a rock cairn and a good view into the Yellowjacket bottoms area.

From the hilltop I spotted a large ruins site on a fingertip of rock that extends into the wide sagebrush fields along the flowing creek. There is a vague unmarked trail that leads to the site from the ATV turnoff that I noticed on the return hike.

This site is mostly rubble with a few sections of wall still standing. The feel of the site is something like an island. From the highest points of the island, the water flows directly below the cliffs on the north side. The sagebrush farm fields are wide here compared with nearby canyons. The abundant water and wide fields make this a relatively favorable site to live in.

The flowing stream is lined with cottonwood trees. On the north side of the stream about 0.25 miles away, there appears to be an historic ruin made of sandstone blocks. I didn’t try to cross the stream to view it, but it looks like pioneer farmers thought this was a good site also.

Most of the structures still standing are rectangular. There are two circular depressions on the south facing side that appear to be large kivas. The pottery shards that I saw were either smooth gray or corrugated. I didn’t see any painted designs. There are several vertical rock faces that looked like good potential petroglyph sites but I didn’t notice any rock art at this site.

On the return hike I explored up Risley Canyon a short distance. The walking was easy on a sandy surface. I saw some alcoves but no ruins structures. (There is a good ruins site further than I walked.)  My total hike was 3:00 hours for about 4 miles. I carried two liters of water on a 55 F degree early April day.