Round Trip Distance: 200 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6318 - 6336 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: 35.21315, -111.36520
Fee: none
Attractions: pueblo ruin, ballcourt
The Section 18 Ruin is located northeast of Winona, Arizona. The site includes the rubble pile remains of a hilltop pueblo with a scattering of pottery shards. Close by below the hilltop is a large oval depression in the ground that was probably an ancient ballcourt.
From I-40 Exit 211 drive north on the Townsend/Winona Road for 0.36 miles and turn right and then immediately go right again. In another 650 feet take the left fork onto Forest Road 775.
As the road enters the trees it comes to a fork. FR 775 turns to the right at this point but then it climbs a very, very rough hill that requires a high clearance 4WD vehicle. If you want to avoid that hill climb you can stay straight on what becomes FR 9132K and follow it around to the top of the hill and get back onto FR 775.
From there the road is pretty good up to the 3 mile point where you turn left onto a side route that leads to the ruin which is less than a half mile away. There are several confusing forks in FR 775 up to this point that don't have a brown mylar marker. Unfortunately Google Maps doesn't know anything about FR 775 so entering the trailhead coordinates into your driving app is of no use. Your better chance is to download our GPS track at the top of this post and follow that.
Out of all the ruins that we have visited in the area this is the first one that had a sign reminding visitors to respect our past and not destroy our American Heritage.
At the top of the little hill behind the sign are the rubble pile remains of the pueblo.
In at least one spot there are some stacked stones of one of the original rooms still visible.
A good scattering of potsherds can be seen on the ground around the ruins.
Amongst the shards of pottery we noticed a fragment of seashell that was probably brought to the site by a trader. Be sure to leave all artifacts such as this where you find them for others to enjoy, remembering at the same time that it is illegal to remove artifacts from an archeological site. Of course, anywhere that an artifact is found is considered an archeological site in itself and is protected by law if it is on land other than private property.
By following what remains of the road, that led up to the ruin, on around the hill you will come to the ballcourt. It doesn't look like much in this photo but when you are there in person you can see distinctly the man-made oval depression. It is also visible from space if you zoom in on the satellite view of Google or Apple Maps.
Seeing that this site has a sign it also probably has a name that the locals know it by other than the one that we made up of Section 18 Ruin. We found the site on an old topo map along with about 15 others around Winona. On the map it was simply labeled 'Ruins'. Since there were no identifying land features until we learn what the local name for the site is we are just going by the land section where it is located.
While the rubble pile remains of the pueblo aren't much to look at the fact that there is a ballcourt and that we noticed the seashell makes it a little more interesting. It also has line of sight vision with several other sites in the area.
If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
