Round Trip Distance: 0.3 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6230 - 6285 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 45 mins.
Trailhead: 1 - 35.12308, -111.35557
2 - 35.12761, -111.33798
Fee: none
Attractions: pueblo ruins
South of Winona, Arizona, in the Cabin Draw area, there are 2 ruin sites that are located within a mile and a half of each other. The first ruin consists of several multi-room blocks while the second ruin seems to consist of a structure with only a single room.
From I-40 Exit 211, at Winona, head south on the Winona Ranch Road.
Stay left as the main road turns toward the shooting range.
At the 5 mile point bear left onto a 4WD road. If you are using Google Maps for directions it will probably have you keep going straight for quite a ways before eventually bending east and then south. Since all the roads after you turn off of the Winona Ranch Road are 4WD routes there doesn't seem to be any advantage in not taking the route that we are suggesting.
After bearing left the road passes a brown mylar marker that indicates that this is FR 9166P. As the road continues it bends around Knipe Tank which on this day was a sea of yellow flowers.
From Knipe Tank the road makes a gentle climb up to higher ground and within a half mile it meets up with the powerline road. At that point turn right and follow the unmarked powerline road, FR 9481A, to the south for another 6 tenths of a mile and turn left onto the unmarked FR 9476V.
Continue on FR 9476V for 2.4 miles and turn right. For the most part all these roads are relatively smooth but there are a few stretches that are rocky where a slower speed is necessary.
In about a half mile after making that turn the route passes by the ruins that are on a short rise several hundred yards due south.
After parking and heading toward the ruins on foot you should have no trouble spotting some shards of pottery. A few of the pieces are about the size of the palm of your hand. Be sure to leave them all where you find them.
Once you reach the site you will probably notice 2 or 3 separate mounds of rubble that are overgrown with grass and brush. We estimated about 10 rooms in total but there could have been more.
To get to the second site all you have to do is drive back to FR 9476V and head east for another 1.2 miles. This ruin sits on the top of a little hill right next to the road. It may have been a round tower.
At first we thought it may have only been something like a hunting blind but it also had a variety of pottery that seemed to point more towards a habitation site.
The Cabin Draw Ruins are both interesting due to their layouts but it is also interesting that Ruin 1 is almost due south of the Page Tank Ruin, which is in a fairly straight line with the Angell Road Ruin which is inline with the Section 18 Ruins. You could continue north from there to San Francisco Wash Ruin 6 but there is a hill in the way that blocks line of sight. Due south from Cabin Draw Ruin 1 is the Yellow Jacket Spring Site. If the alignment of all of these ruins was intentional, for a sort of line of sight communication network, then who knows how far it goes or what other sites might be interspersed along the way.
Anyway, as far as the 2 Cabin Draw sites go, if you would like to see them for yourself all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
