Catching up... Sedona - 7. PALATKI RUINS

This place, the Palatki Ruins and Petroglyphs, was right up at the end of the road where we were camped.  Just get on Forest Road 525 and keep going, when you get to the Y, go right, to the end of the road.  It's kind of a rough road, but if you go slow, it's fine.

Palatki Ruins is a designated World Heritage Site, and has cliff dwellings, pictographs and petroglyphs from the Southern Sinagua people.  The ruins and dwellings were built by the ancient Sinagua Indians who inhabited the Sedona and Verde Valley area from 500 to about 1425 AD.

 Palatki is the Hopi word for red house, I'm guessing that's from all the red rock into which the structures were carved.

You need reservations to tour the area with a Guide and I think there's a nominal fee, but our Golden Age Passes got us in free.  Our guide was really interesting and gave us a lot of information about the area and the people who lived here.

This site has two distinct areas, first you tour the ruins with the guide, then you can do a self-tour over to the petroglyphs, which has a docent standing by to give out information and answer questions.

First photos are the ruins.

This area also had two designs carved on or bleached into the walls.

And the pictographs and petroglyphs from the second location:

I really enjoyed this tour. These people picked such beautiful places to establish themselves.  The Verde Valley is so green and has water - great for planting, so they were able to sustain themselves. And the way they carved out their homes in the rocks, they had the warm sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon from the overhanging cliffs, so the hot summer temperatures wouldn't have affected them as much as if they settled on flat land, and in the cold winters, they would have had sun hitting their home during the day, and the overhanging cliffs would have protected them from rain and snow.  Such a beautiful, perfect place to have lived!

Wikipedia's  Palatki Heritage Site.

From Me and Katie, have a great day, everyone!   😎🔆😎