Round Trip Distance: 1.6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 6404 - 7041 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
Trailhead: 35.25255, -111.47045
Fee: none
Attractions: pueblo ruins
O'Neill Crater is located in the Coconino National Forest between Flagstaff and Winona, Arizona. Ruins can be found on a knoll below the summit, all along the west rim of the cinder cone crater, in a few of the lava caves, and along the southwest rim of the crater. Taken together the ruins may have contained 100 or more individual rooms.
To get there, follow the Townsend-Winona Road for about 4.7 miles from Winona or 5.4 miles from US-89, and turn north onto the Hutton Ranch Road.
Continue on the Hutton Ranch Road for about 1.2 miles to where a 4WD road departs on the right. This road is closed to all motor vehicles so park here and begin hiking. For turn-by-turn directions you can put O'Neill Crater into your driving app but when we did it directed us to turn right a little early onto O'Neill Street which is fine if you ignore that instruction. Better directions can be obtained by entering the GPS coordinates 35.25255, -111.47045 for the trailhead instead.
The hiking starts out pleasant enough as the old road passes by the first ruin. Eventually though the route becomes much steeper as it climbs up a very rock trail to the rim.
Once the trail reaches the ridge it passes through what may have been a defensive, or trading wall, where there is also the remains of at least 1 room. While touring Casa Malpais, in Springerville, Arizona, the guide pointed out a wall in front of the ruins where traders would stop and the men of the pueblo would come and do business. We've noticed walls like this at many sites where they seemed to provide only a meager defense. A trading wall, or place for visitors to wait admittance, seems to make a lot of sense.
Beginning at the wall, blocks of rooms can be found all the way up the rim of the crater to near the summit.
Some of the clusters may have had as many as 10 or more rooms.
This enclosed rectangle is rather large for a normal room. What it's function may have been is something to think about.
Up near the summit on the inside of the crater there are a string of caves, some of which have walls.
At least 3 blocks of rooms are also found on the southwest rim of the crater. This one probably had 11 or so rooms.
On the lower bench, at what we labeled as Ruin1, we counted 21 rooms.
