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Pueblo Grande
Trip No.1 Entry No.1 Date Added: 9th Apr 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 11th Jan 2010. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5
Pueblo Grande submitted by bat400 on 9th Mar 2010. The platform mound from the northwest. The remaining walls of ground level structures in the foreground.
Photo: Jan 2010, bat400.
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Log Text: Salt River Hohokam by Public Transit and Foot.
This day trip will take you to a 1,500 year old ruin of a Hohokam village, Pueblo Grande, a butte where the Hohokam left petrogyphs, and the ruin of a Hohokam farmstead - a "suburb" of Pueblo Grande. All the sites are accessible by public transportation and walks on either city streets or maintained trails. The trip could take as little as two and a half hours or as much as five hours, but four hours touring time is a reasonable estimate if you want to fully enjoy the museum and each site.
Start at Pueblo Grande site and museum at the SE corner of Washington and 44th Street, Phoenix. On the SW corner is a [url=www.valleymetro.org/]Valley Metro[/url] light rail station, accessible by bus in the Valley Metro system. A free shuttle bus from the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport also runs to this station regularly from early morning to late evening. I made this trip as part of a planned, 6 hour layover at the airport.
Pueblo Grande is one of the main accessible Hohokam village or town sites. The prehistoric Hohokam (1AD - 1450AD) lived in central and southern Arizona. They farmed corn, beans, squash, and cotton and are best known for their water management skills. Prior to modern reservoir systems, the Salt River flowed year round and the Hohokam built and maintained irrigation systems. Along these abandoned canals the remains of their villages and extended homesteads were found by historic Europeans. Many of the canals were so well laid out that the new pioneers often followed and simply renewed prehistoric canals to supply their own fields. The Hohokam built their villages in adobe, regularly centered around platform mounds and ballcourts. Drought, floods, and possible internal conflict caused the Hohokam to abandon the Salt River Valley in the 1400's. The historic Akimel O'odham (Pima) people are the most likely descendants of the Hohokam.
The museum on site explains the irrigation systems and describes how Pueblo Grande extended over a much larger area than is preserved today.
A visit to the Pueblo Grande site can take 1-2 hours depending on your level of interest.
Now go to "Pueblo Grande - Ball Court". [URL=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=15417]http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=15417[/URL].
Pueblo Grande - Ball Court
Trip No.1 Entry No.2 Date Added: 9th Apr 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 11th Jan 2010. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5
Pueblo Grande - Ball Court submitted by bat400 on 9th Mar 2010. The south half of the ball court. Photo: Jan 2010, bat400.
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Log Text: The ball court is on the grounds of Pueblo Grande.
Next go to "Pueblo Grande - Park of Four Waters".
[URL=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=16941]http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=16941[/URL].
Pueblo Grande - Park of Four Waters
Trip No.1 Entry No.3 Date Added: 8th Jun 2012
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 1st Jan 2010. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4
Log Text: In addition to the main grounds of the site, there are regularly scheduled tours of the remains of some of the canals at the Park of Four Waters adjacent to Pueblo Grande.
Next go to "Hayden Butte". [URL=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17352]http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17352[/URL].
Hayden Butte
Trip No.1 Entry No.4 Date Added: 9th Apr 2017
Site Type: Rock Art
Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jan 0000. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3
Hayden Butte submitted by TimPrevett on 5th Dec 2009. Hayden Butte (pronounced bute) has a lot of petroglyphs when you know where to look. All the glyphs are on sides of the mountain facing the sun (ie. south and east - as it seems is the case with most sites).
Most are recessed off the paths and are inaccesible due to wildlife and heritage preservation but can be viewed adequately from the paths, and with assistance (ie camera zoom, binoculars).
If not used to this environment, be mindful of bobcats, rattlesnakes, cacti and the temperature. It...
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Log Text: Now make your way to the 44th and Washington rail station and travel eastbound. You'll cross the Salt River over Tempe's Town Lake. Get off at the Veterans Way / College Avenue stop at Sun Devil Stadium and Hayden Butte. The rail trip itself will take about 10 minutes.
If you walk to the east end of the station platforms and face the butte, there are trail heads to your left. The majority of the petroglyphs are on the south and east side of the butte and if you decide to walk to the top, there are views of the river valley and the extensive modern development of Phoenix and Tempe. Again, you may wish to walk only a short way up the trail or all the way to the top of the butte, taking anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes at this stop on the trip.
Next go to "Lomo del Rio Ruins". http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17351.
Loma del Rio Ruins
Trip No.1 Entry No.5 Date Added: 9th Apr 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 11th Jan 2010. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Loma del Rio Ruins submitted by bat400 on 11th Mar 2010. The ruin from the southeast. On the crest of the hill you're seeing the narrow edge of the building, two rooms across. To the right, and just below, you can make out a single room, separated from the larger, six room building on the hilltop.Photo: Jan 2010, bat400.
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Log Text: Back at the south base of the butte, make your way NW towards Mills Ave, and then walk toward the river in the north bound lane. You'll cross a scenic bridge over Tempe Town Lake. (The year round water level is maintained by the use of inflatable barriers.)
On the north side of the river, watch for a stairway on the right that takes you down on to North Loop road. Keep heading north. As you come out from under the 202 freeway and head up hill, you'll see a large open area and a trail head on the right side of the road, with a barrier to prevent cars from parking there. You are now on the SW corner of Papago Park. The walk from the butte to this point should take less than a half hour.
Take the trail east and watch for a footbridge on your left (north). Cross on this footbridge at the Indian Bend Canal, a modernized remnant of an ancient Hohokam canal. You are now on the trail to the Loma del Rio Ruin which lies at the top of the hill directly to your right. Follow the trail in a clockwise curve up and around the hill to the ruin. There is a shaded area right next to the stabilized seven room ruin.
This was an outlying Hohokam farmstead. It lies close on the elevated freeway and overhead electrical pylons. It takes a good imagination to block these modern developments out and focus on the remains of a prehistoric farm. After visiting, return to the North Loop Road the way you came. The walk up to the ruin and back to the road is about 30 minutes.
Now you can return to a light rail station to complete your journey. If you're heading back west, toward Phoenix, continue north on North Loop Road, to Curry Road. (Nearly at Curry Road, on the left, is a park with shaded picnic areas and restrooms.)
Turn left and walk west on Curry Road, across an intersection, and straight on (Curry Road becomes Washington Street at this point.) Or, if you stopped in the park, you can make your way to the same intersection by walking west through the park.
Walk west on Washington Street until you see a rail station in the median strip. The walk from the trail head on North Loop Road to the station will take about 10 minutes.
There are many other public Hohokam sites in the Valley, but most of them require a bike or car.