Round Trip Distance: 0.5 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 3167 - 3255 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: 34.50761, -111.80657
Fee: none
Attractions: pueblo ruin
The Wingfield Mesa Ruins are a large square pueblo that sits atop a hill near Camp Verde, Arizona. Originally the pueblo may have had more than 20 rooms.
To get there, take I-17 Exit 287 for AZ-260. Follow AZ-260 for about 7.3 miles and turn right onto East Verde Lakes. Continue to Ripple and turn right. Turn right again on East Lazar and then turn left onto South Arizona. After a block cross East Zachary and then continue straight onto FR 503. Once you are on the dirt road you can see a small hill up ahead where you will find the ruins on its mesa.
Right before the hill the road comes to a fork. To get on top of the mesa by taking the right fork requires a 4WD vehicle with high clearance. Highway vehicles will want to stay to the left.
As the road continues past the hill take the next road to the right that travels around the south side of the mesa. Highway vehicles will probably want to park below the mesa and hike the last few hundred feet to the top. For turn-by-turn directions to the ruins you can enter 34.50761, -111.80657 into your driving app.
The rubble pile ruins cover a large area where the rooms on each side of the pueblo stretch out for about 200 feet.
The walls appear to have been made using dry stack construction methods.
An aerial view of the site shows the square shape of the pueblo with its central plaza.
A good amount of pottery shards are strewn about the ground in places. Be sure to leave all of these where you find them for others to enjoy.
