Round Trip Distance: 0.25 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5380 - 5392 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 45 mins.
Trailhead: 37.34494, -108.97158
left turn: 37.34710, -108.93258
Fee: none
Attractions: pueblo ruins
The Cannonball Mesa Pueblo is located in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument about 20 miles west of Cortez, Colorado. Perched above a spring, on the rim of a side arm of Yellow Jacket Canyon, are the ruins of a pueblo style structure that probably had 20 or more rooms. While much of the present ruins are rubble piles there are a few standing walls that might be over 10 feet in height.
To get there from Cortez turn west onto County Road G, drive 20.2 miles, and turn right. Be sure to close the gate after passing through.
The first mile or so of the graveled road, that climbs gently up Cannonball Mesa, travels through private property. Near the 1.5 mile point from Road G, as the road gets to the top of a ridge, there is a cattleguard where the route to the ruins branches off on the left. When we were there they had planted a shiny new Canyons of the Ancients National Monument sign at this point. For turn-by-turn directions up to here you can enter 37.34710, -108.93258 into your driving app which probably knows nothing of the road from here to the ruins.
Once you arrive at the trailhead there is a nice parking area with a turn around just like they were expecting your visit.
From the trailhead you pass through a gate with a sign reminding you that the ruins are protected by law and not to destroy the past that they represent. Just inside the gate is this first structure which is surrounded by a whole group of mostly rubble pile rooms of the former pueblo. You might notice in this photo some even larger walls in the background around the arcing rim of the canyon.
Most of the rooms are rectangular but there are several sunken round structures that may have been kivas.
Hiking on around the rim you come to some much larger structures.
Most of the walls are fallen now but you can see how in the past they formed a single structure that sat right on the edge of the rim and extended between 50-100 feet.
This ruin is on top of a large boulder below the rim.
If you are really curious you can make your way down into the alcove below the ruins where the spring is located. We were there during a drought year and there was still some water that didn't look at all brackish. There is the remnants of a small room in the corner of the same alcove.
These two corrugated pieces are all that we noticed in the way of pottery. Be sure to leave them there or there won't even be these for other visitors to see.
If the access road was a little better, and didn't require a high clearance 4WD in places, the Cannonball Mesa Pueblo might more often get recommended like those of Hovenweep National Monument. The structures were built after the exact same fashion, as far as being built on the rim at the head of a canyon with a spring nearby and having some structures that were built on top of large boulders.
If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
Fee: none
Attractions: pueblo ruins
The Cannonball Mesa Pueblo is located in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument about 20 miles west of Cortez, Colorado. Perched above a spring, on the rim of a side arm of Yellow Jacket Canyon, are the ruins of a pueblo style structure that probably had 20 or more rooms. While much of the present ruins are rubble piles there are a few standing walls that might be over 10 feet in height.
To get there from Cortez turn west onto County Road G, drive 20.2 miles, and turn right. Be sure to close the gate after passing through.
The first mile or so of the graveled road, that climbs gently up Cannonball Mesa, travels through private property. Near the 1.5 mile point from Road G, as the road gets to the top of a ridge, there is a cattleguard where the route to the ruins branches off on the left. When we were there they had planted a shiny new Canyons of the Ancients National Monument sign at this point. For turn-by-turn directions up to here you can enter 37.34710, -108.93258 into your driving app which probably knows nothing of the road from here to the ruins.
Once you arrive at the trailhead there is a nice parking area with a turn around just like they were expecting your visit.
From the trailhead you pass through a gate with a sign reminding you that the ruins are protected by law and not to destroy the past that they represent. Just inside the gate is this first structure which is surrounded by a whole group of mostly rubble pile rooms of the former pueblo. You might notice in this photo some even larger walls in the background around the arcing rim of the canyon.
Most of the rooms are rectangular but there are several sunken round structures that may have been kivas.
Hiking on around the rim you come to some much larger structures.
Most of the walls are fallen now but you can see how in the past they formed a single structure that sat right on the edge of the rim and extended between 50-100 feet.
This ruin is on top of a large boulder below the rim.
If you are really curious you can make your way down into the alcove below the ruins where the spring is located. We were there during a drought year and there was still some water that didn't look at all brackish. There is the remnants of a small room in the corner of the same alcove.
These two corrugated pieces are all that we noticed in the way of pottery. Be sure to leave them there or there won't even be these for other visitors to see.
If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
