When You Go Points of Interest
LOCATION: 50 miles northeast of
1385
Phoenix.
GETTING THERE: From Apache
SALADO
Junction, drive southeast 16 miles on
U.S. Route 60 to Florence Junction.
Continue east 2 miles on U.S. 60 to
Queen Valley Rd and turn left
(north). Follow Queen Valley Rd
northeast 1.8 miles to Forest Service
Rd 357 (Hewitt Station Road). Go
DRIVE
right on FR 357 and drive 3 miles. TRAVEL
Turn left onto Forest Service Rd 172 Rogers Canyon Ruins
and travel 10 miles to a junction.
Turn right onto Forest Service Rd The front porch of the ruin tucked into the
172A and continue 3.9 rugged miles Superstition Mountains boasts the best views
to the trailhead. around.
TRAVEL ADVISORY: The drive to the
Rogers Trough Trailhead is best
made in a four-wheel-drive vehicle
because of the many steep and rough
spots on the final 3.9 miles of the
road. Hiking in Rogers Canyon is
most pleasant in the spring and fall,
when the weather is mild.
Arizona Student THE PRIME ANCIENT
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Tonto
Brochure Service ADDRESS IN
National Forest, (602)225-5200. Phone: (480) 782-2323 ROGERS CANYON
Email: @kyrenek12.az.us OFFERS SPENDID
FRONT-PORCH VIEWS
Rogers Canyon Salado Indians Salado Settlement
The Salado are believed to The ruins at Rogers Canyon
have been a group of Anasazi that hides under a rock overhang that
moved into the Tonto protects it from the rain, snow,
Basin/Roosevelt Lake/Globe, and winds. It has some partially
Arizona region 900 A.D. The eroded walls and one huge
Salado lived comfortably here for preserved room with its walls
several centuries prospering intact and much of its twig-and-
because of their artistic skills mud roof in perfect condition.
with ceramics and the weaving of
Archaeologists aren’t sure why
cotton fabrics. Their black-and-
the Salado left this place. It
Hikers clamber over the white-on-red pottery became the
might have been drought. It might
rocky trail leading to the ruin. hallmark of their culture.
have been famine. It might have
Once a haven for the ancient
For some reason, the Salado been war. Rogers Canyon ruins
Salado Indians, Rogers Canyon
began migrating south around gives visitors a first-hand look
Ruin commands a view of the lush
1200 A.D. After a brief stay with into the lives of the Salado
desert riparian area created by
the Hohokam, to whom they Indians of Arizona.
Rogers Creek. The Salado Indians
brought pueblo architecture,
called this place home around
pottery and burial styles, they
A.D. 1300; three hundred years
moved into southeastern Arizona
before the Pilgrims landed at
and southwestern New Mexico,
Plymouth Rock.
and then disappeared from the
historic record altogether.