DINÉTAH PUEBLITOS
Mon, Jun 15
|Frances Canyon Ruins
SIMON CANYON & FRANCES CANYON RUINS
Time & Location
Jun 15, 2026, 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Frances Canyon Ruins, Navajo Dam, NM 87419, USA
About the event
In the early to mid-eighteenth century Navajos built and occupied about 240 defensive sites during a period of frequent Ute raiding. We visit two of these, in Simon Canyon and Frances Canyon, both near Navajo Lake. The former is one of the latest (1754) and smallest pueblitos—probably an extended-family residence—and the latter is one of the earliest (beginning around 1710) and largest. The Frances Canyon pueblito is a 40-unit complex, including a tower, and is also noteworthy for its syncretic—Navajo, Pueblo, Spanish—architecture.
The total hiking distance at Simon Canyon is 1.7 miles roundtrip, and the first quarter-mile—on a dirt road to a gas-well pad where the trail begins—is steep. The remainder of the hike is flat and through scenic boulder landscape. At Frances Canyon the ruins are one tenth of a mile from the parking area.
You may join us for just Frances Canyon if you prefer.
This trip is…
Tickets
General Admission
$60.00
Sold Out
This event is sold out