The following is the text from an article posted online by Arizona StarNet.

Walnut Canyon Trail A True Historical Journey

By Tara Wood
The Arizona Daily Star
Thursday, October 2, 1997

FLAGSTAFF - Step by step, the Island Trail at Walnut Canyon National Monument creeps down into a steep, scenic, terraced and wooded canyon. Just under a mile long and paved the whole way, this trail is certainly not the most challenging you'll find in Arizona. Yet, what it lacks in distance, it makes up for with history. With every inch you cover, you retrace the footsteps of the Sinagua people who thrived here over 800 years ago.

If it's a workout you're looking for, you'll still feel a sting in your quads from the effort it takes to climb 240 steps (which cover 185 vertical feet, at a thin-air elevation of just under 7,000 feet) to reach the cliff dwelling ruins.

The Sinagua were the ``people without water,'' whose name alludes to their ability to thrive in a relatively dry area. Walnut Creek trickles through the bottom of the canyon, and probably did not flow year-round when these people made their home here. They relied mostly on wild foods and game, while also using dry farming techniques to grow corn and other crops on the canyon rim for sustenance, according to information at the monument.

The logical first stop at Walnut Canyon is the visitor center that is perched on the rim of the canyon. It is complete with educational exhibits, a bookstore, and a viewing area that provides the first glimpse down into the canyon.

At first glance, the Sinagua ``condos'' are barely discernible from the sandy-colored limestone cliffs that envelope them. But it doesn't take long for your eye to learn to spot the crumbling stacks of rocks and mortar that are the walls that divide dozens of rooms scattered around the canyon.

Follow the trail, and it will snake down through layers of rock terraces and life zones and onto one level where many of the walls to the Sinagua homes still stand firm. Wander in and around the rooms, and you will see some evidence of their lifestyle, from blackened marks on canyon walls, to finger prints in the mortar that originated when they built walls to their homes.

The Sinagua are believed to have left the area around 1250, and to have eventually assimilated into the Hopi culture. A true picture of the Sinagua's existence is incomplete, archaeologists and anthropologists say.

Most of their belongings were removed in the 1880s by pot hunters, some of whom even used dynamite to allow more light when they searched for artifacts. The souvenir seekers' destruction was what prompted a movement to save the canyon ruins, which were finally protected when Woodrow Wilson proclaimed them a national monument in 1915.

The Island Trail is dotted with interpretive signs that discuss the Sinagua people's way of life - including one that discussed how remnants of cane cigarettes still packed with charred tobacco were found inside the homes. Other signs identify natural features such as the many different types of trees that live in the canyon, including the Arizona black walnut, the canyon's namesake.

The Rim Trail is another feature at Walnut Canyon. Also a paved route that is 0.7 miles long, it passes a picnic area, and many rim-top structures the Sinagua left behind.

Walnut Canyon is located just east of Flagstaff, and is a popular destination for outdoor activities such as hiking, hunting and biking, most of which are allowed only in the western part of the canyon. The ruins are on the eastern side of the canyon, which lies under the National Monument designation, and requires an entry fee of $3 per person.

To reach Walnut Canyon National Monument, travel 10 miles east on Interstate 40 from Flagstaff, and take exit 204. Signs clearly point the way to the visitor center.