The Citadel Ruins

Back in February, we had a couple from Ohio (Ron & Debbie) contact us about some hikes in the St. George area.  After several email correspondences, we decided to meet them at Paula's (a local Mexican food restaurant) when they arrived for their vacation.  It was at this dinner that Ron mentioned an amazing hike that they had done in the Cedar Mesa area called the Citadel.  The Citadel??  Never heard of it.  When we got home that evening we began researching these ruins and were intrigued with what we discovered.  Today is the day we are going to see them for ourselves!

We began our hike at the Road Canyon Rim Trail

The trail was well marked with cairns and follows the contour of this visually appealing canyon  

Indian Paintbrush and prickly pear cactus

After 1½ miles we had to drop off the canyon rim to reach this ledge or shelf of sandstone . . .
The Citadel is on the end of the peninsula that lies ahead of us!  Boy, this is going to be good!

This picture makes the slickrock look worse than it really was . . . 
The truth of the matter is we all made it down without doing any "butt scooting" . . . 
Just make sure to have shoes with "sticky" tread!

We are getting closer!  Now all we have to do is walk the corridor over to the Citadel

There was a huge clump of Rose Heath growing up between some large boulders

We are nearing the Citadel . . .
The final push had a couple of spots where we needed to use all fours to scramble up to the ruins

The Citadel . . . We're just a short climb away!

The Ruins are well preserved largely due to being built under this outcropping . . .
Be sure to look with your eyes . . . don't touch or enter any of the rooms 

The craftsmanship shows that the Ancestral Puebloans were very skilled in their masonry trades

Colorful lichen living on sandstone

A group picture to help us remember this special place . . . 
Allison, Kent, John and Mary

The Citadel lives up to its name . . .  a fortress that commands a city

Allison peering into one of the rooms 

We walked around the entire bench taking in the views from different angles

Time to head back down . . . the first drop-off is a bit of a scoot & scramble
Do you see the interesting balancing rock that looks like a monkey head above John?

This arrow points back to where we dropped off the rim and into the canyon 
(Click on the picture for a better view)

Mary and John are working their way off the bench of the Citadel and back onto the corridor

Do they look happy or what?!
Just one more push back up to the rim and then hike back to the trailhead

There were two things we didn't expect to encounter on this hike . . . 
The amazing wildflowers along the trail and having the Citadel all to ourselves!
(We did meet several people heading in as we were leaving)

Wow, Ron & Debbie, you were right . . . this was one amazing hike!  It's interesting that the Bears Ears Monument (along with many travel guides) do not even mention The Citadel in their publications.  We're sure this is to keep the traffic down and, hopefully, not to have to place a quota (permit system) like they've had to do with the Moon House Ruins.  Having said that, this place is not a secret and there is plenty of information on how to get to the Citadel on the Internet.  If you would like to explore this place for yourself, we would recommend clicking this link to "Road Trip Ryan's" website for an excellent guide for this fantastic hike!