The Palatki Site Rock Art Galleries

On the morning of April 6, 2019, my friend Billy Ward and I visited the Palatki Site.  “Palatki” means “Red House” in the Hopi language.  We approached from Camp Verde in the South, where we had spent the night.  The Palatki site has rock art in a number of places.  We were able to visit the main ruins site, which has a couple of large (20 inches in diameter) shield like pictographs, which are thought to be family or clan symbols.  We also visited the Grotto, which is reached by a separate trail.  This site has pictographs from the Paleo Period (11,000-9,000 B.C.), the Archaic Period (9,000B.C. to A.D. 600) and as well as art by the Sinagua culture (A.D. 600 to 1300).  These pictographs, and the wide variety of ages and styles, were worth visiting.  There is also other rock art at the Palatki Site (The Bear Alcove and the Roasting Pit Alcove, both of which have some Apache and Hopi art) that was not open to the public on the day we visited and apparently is only accessible by special arrangement- maybe next time!  The first set of photos was taken with my Samsung S7 cell phone, while the rest of the photos were taken with my Nikon D7200.  I hope you enjoy my photos!  If you would like to read my blog about the trip that includes my visit to Palatki, look here. 

Return To Palatki…

On the return portion of my Fall 2022 Rock Art Trip, I stopped by Palatki for a brief visit.  I had spent the morning at Loy Canyon, which I realized was only a few miles from Palatki.  I wanted to see the Bear Alcove, which was closed on my first visit.  Had I read my own blog about my first visit, I would have also asked about the Roasting Pit Alcove–  maybe next time!  The Bear Alcove was a bit of a disappointment.  The Ranger who took me over to it called it “Bear Claw” and said it was named because of bear claw tracks found in the cave.  There was very little art, but I am glad I stopped at these sites.  Below are photos from this return visit.  The first five photos in the gallery were taken with my cellphone as I climbed up to the ruin site.  The rest of the photos were taken at the two rock art alcoves with my Nikon D7200 camera.