Parunuweap Anasazi Ruins

I know a lot of you are interested in exactly what the Anasazi Ruins in the lower section of Parunuweap that is closed to the public consists of..... so for your viewing pleasure here is some information sent to me by a friend....

:popcorn:


Ruin #1
Ruin of 8-9 room dwelling in an alcove. The ruin consists of tabular sandstone masonry walls with red clay plaster. One structure includes at least 2 adobe bricks containing straw. There is evidence of mud floors and a lot of rock art.

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Ruin #2
Ruin of 2 dwelling rooms 8+ masonry storage rooms (several intact, some 2-story), 9 cists, and a dry-laid enclosure wall in alcove. Most walls are wet-laid masonry with remnants of mud plaster and some jacal construction. Fire pits, smoke blackening, and rock art are also present.

Attachment 38866

holly crap, is that a giant candy cane???!!!

I was thinking the Anasazi stripper pole fell over.... :lol8:

I'm guessing it's some type of tool archeologists use to add scale to their pictures that would be useful at a future date.....

Very cool, thanks Shane

Very nice. I have indeed wondered what they or it looked like. Thanks...

Those are cool. Hard to believe no one has poached it, is it on NPS property or private property?

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Those are cool. Hard to believe no one has poached it, is it on NPS property or private property?

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For what its worth, I was talking to a NPS archaeologist about these ruins a few months ago and was told that they were closed because people were poaching the hell out of them, and that there had been significant degradation of the site prior to closure. Said archaeologist was very fired up about it. I have no reason to believe it wasn't the truth.

Can't remember if the ruins are public or private, but I believe they are public.

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Originally Posted by Bubbles

For what its worth, I was talking to a NPS archaeologist about these ruins a few months ago and was told that they were closed because people were poaching the hell out of them, and that there had been significant degradation of the site prior to closure. Said archaeologist was very fired up about it. I have no reason to believe it wasn't the truth.

Can't remember if the ruins are public or private, but I believe they are public.

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They are inside Zion National Park, and now very difficult (and illegal) to access. My understanding is they were picked over pretty good by the locals, BITD. Access from the Springdale side is blocked by the "Jim Trees Estate", private land, posted.

Thanks for the historic photographs, Ice.

Tom :moses:

My understanding is that lower Parunuweap is closed for several reasons.... Zion is required by the NPS to maintain several "Natural Research Areas" that are closed to the public so they can be used as a control to monitor impact of public accessible areas. Hikers exiting out the bottom of Parunuweap were causing problems for the private property owners. The lower canyon contained several Anasazi sites that were being abused.... so by declaring Lower Parunuweap a "Natural Research Area" Zion NP was able to kill three birds with one stone.

Come to think of it, Ice, I had heard about the landowners being upset as well.

Not that I'm considering it, but what is the punishment for hiking through a restricted area like this?

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Originally Posted by Don

Not that I'm considering it, but what is the punishment for hiking through a restricted area like this?

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I assume it might be the same as not having a permit? and the reason I think that is the area is open to those with a permit and reason to be there... say an archeologist or the spotted owl guy.... they could probably also get you for trespassing as you have to exit through private property.... but all that is just my best guess...

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

I assume it might be the same as not having a permit? and the reason I think that is the area is open to those with a permit and reason to be there... say an archeologist or the spotted owl guy.... they could probably also get you for trespassing as you have to exit through private property.... but all that is just my best guess...

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That would be the PARK Archeologist, or the PARK Owl Hugger. I think they would hit you harder than just not having your papers in order, but it is not usually an issue. On the Private Land, what the sheriff and county prosecuter nail you for, and how hard, depends a lot on how pissed off the land owner is, and how connected he is to the 'good 'ol boy' network.

Tom :moses:

Awesome and It does get poached.......but I hear that the sites are pristine and there is not that much degradation to be seen. I hear that they are in pretty good condition but yes, I hear they are pretty picked over. It is possible to exit along the perimeter of the private land, kind of an the fringe, although longer it is definately much lower key than walking down the road to the pavement. So I hear anyways.

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Originally Posted by nelsonccc

Awesome and It does get poached.......but I hear that the sites are pristine and there is not that much degradation to be seen. I hear that they are in pretty good condition but yes, I hear they are pretty picked over. It is possible to exit along the perimeter of the private land, kind of an the fringe, although longer it is definately much lower key than walking down the road to the pavement. So I hear anyways.

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:wtf:

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Originally Posted by Don

Not that I'm considering it, but what is the punishment for hiking through a restricted area like this?

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Several years ago some friends were caught trespassing Parunuweap. Included: Inconvenient court appearances, several hundred dollar penalties each, banishment from ZNP for a year. Not sure if this is standard or not, but doesn't hardly seem worth the penalty just to see a couple sites to me?

It is the lure of the closed area that some cannot resist. A list of closed areas becomes a hit list. Must be something good in there for them to close it off right?

I was told that you can visit closed ruins in Mesa Verde IF.... you supply a valid written reason to visit the specific ruin.... you pay for a permit that costs something like $500.... and you pay $50 per hour for one of the NP archeologist to accompany you on your trip.... Perhaps Zion has a similar system in place?

Honestly if you want to visit awesome ruins you are probably way ahead to drive over to Cedar Mesa. The only allure of the Parunuweap ruins to me is I always wondered what was there exactly.

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Honestly if you want to visit awesome ruins you are probably way ahead to drive over to Cedar Mesa. The only allure of the Parunuweap ruins to me is I always wondered what was there exactly.

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interesting point. I talked to an individual who has legally gone to these ruins. He made the same comment and didn't think to highly of these ruins. I've seen some pictures of the ruins, and it wasn't that impressive. Perhaps he showed me only the crappy ruins and not the grandest city of the lost "Seven Cities of Gold." But I tend to believe there are better legal options out there.

Much better ruins out there than risking the hassle. I suspect they are pretty trashed being where they are. Besides the better part of Parunweep pretty much ends just past the Labrityh Falls. When we did it from Carmel Jct we looked at sneaking out past the private land, but was just to crappy.

Yeah, I admit part of the appeal is that I've been told I can't go there, but a huge fine, or banishment for a year, don't really seem worth it...