A Pueblo and a Blowhole: Wupatki National Monument

An Ancient Mansion

The Ancient Pueblo People of the American southwest were awesome.  They are most known for carving out cliff dwellings like in Mesa Verde National Park and Walnut Canyon National Monument.  However, long before these ancient people got desperate enough to build massive cliff dwelling complexes, they were building pueblos, for which they were given their namesake.  Wupatki is home to to one of the largest complexes still standing built by the Ancient Pueblo People.

The largest Pueblo (building built of mud bricks) in Wupatki.

Pubelos are buildings built of mud brick and meant to withstand the extreme hot and cold of Arizona.  Pueblos built by the Ancient Pueblo People are really old.  That's because the Ancient Pueblo People are well ancient.  The forefathers of modern day Native Americans in the southwest US, such as the Hopi, the Ancient Puebloans reached a cultural and economical climax about a thousand years ago.  During that time, they built many of the structures they are famous for, including Wupatki.

The Pueblo at Wupatki has over one hundred rooms.

Wupatki National Monument contains several smaller pueblos and a museum in addition to the mansion that earned it national monument status.  The mansion is comprised of one hundred rooms and is thought to have housed as many people.  Nearby a ball court undoubtedly provided entertainment.  The pueblo is in disrepair, with the roof and much of the walls missing, but it is still an impressive structure, with some of the windows, doorways, and terraces intact.  In some ways it resembles a human size habitrail.  I think I would have gotten lost inside for days when it was intact. 

The blow hole, a geologic feature which expels hot air (warmed naturally by the ground) out a small hole, creating a constant current.

The ball court it better maintained, although probably due to its less intricate design.  Like the Mayan ball courts, the rules of this game are not entirely known and probably differed community to community much like modern day beer pong and so called "house rules".

Standing in the ball court at Wupatki north of the largest pueblo.

One cool geologic feature of the national monument, located just a stone's throw away from the ball court is a blow hole, so named, because hot air continually blows out of it.  In these naturally occurring features, cold dense air sinks through a hole in the ground into a cave.  This can happen in the winter or on cold nights.  While underground the cold dense air is warmed by the surrounding warm ground.  As the air warms it expands and becomes less dense, both of which cause it to rise out of the blow hole into the the atmosphere above.  The blow hole dispels air at a constant and strong enough rate to make my hair stand on end when I looked down into its dark abyss.

Wupatki National Monument spans the rolling prairie of Arizona.

I think Wupatki is a pretty unique national monument since it has such cool cultural and geologic features.  It's also located adjacent to Sunset Crater National Monument for an added bonus.  The two national monuments can be visited on one two lane loop road from the interstate.  Visiting these monuments was a last minute decision that I'm glad I made on my southwest road trip.