Pipe Spring National Monument

Pipe Spring National Monument sits on the flat, open expanse of the Arizona Strip, that portion of the state physically separated from the rest of Arizona by the Grand Canyon. At roughly 4,961 feet elevation, it looks and feels like high desert: wide skies, sandstone cliffs, sparse vegetation.

What makes this 40-acre site remarkable is what it preserves at ground level — a perennial desert spring that has drawn people continuously for over a thousand years, and the stone fort that a cattle operation built directly over it in 1872.

A Thousand Years of History

The Kaibab Paiute people used this spring long before European contact. Ancestral Puebloans preceded them. When Mormon settlers arrived in the 1860s driving cattle from St. George, the spring drew them too, and conflict and uneasy compromise followed.

By 1872, a two-story stone fortification called Winsor Castle had been constructed over the main spring, with the water running through the building's lower room in a channel before emptying outside. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased the fort the following year and operated it as a cattle ranch, tithing station, and way-stop on the route now known as the Honeymoon Trail, where young Mormon couples traveled to have their marriages sealed at the St. George temple. President Warren G. Harding proclaimed the site a national monument on May 31, 1923, two months before his death.

What to See and Do

Today the monument is jointly operated by the National Park Service and the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians. The visitor center and cultural museum covers both layers of history, with artifacts and a 25-minute film.

Winsor Castle is accessible only by ranger-guided tour, offered throughout the day. Those tours are the highlight of most visits. The spring still runs through the fort's lower cheese-making room. The grounds include two cabins with cowboy and preservation exhibits, an active orchard with historic fruit varieties, a garden, ponds, and working ranch animals.

The Ridge Trail is the monument's one hiking trail. It is a half-mile loop that leaves from just west of the fort, climbs the sandstone ridge behind the settlement on a series of switchbacks, and delivers views down over the entire homestead, the surrounding reservation, and the flat horizon of the Arizona Strip. Interpretive signs along the route cover geology, plants, and the history visible below.

Petroglyphs and evidence of dinosaur tracks are visible along the trail if you know where to look — ask at the ranger desk. Dogs are not allowed on the Ridge Trail or inside any historic buildings, but are permitted on leash in the open grounds area.

Planning Your Visit

Pipe Spring is positioned squarely on the road between Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon North Rim, about 25 miles southwest of Kanab, Utah. The drive is straightforward and the visit, including the Winsor Castle tour and the Ridge Trail, typically takes 1.5 to 2 hours.

Summer brings living history demonstrations with rangers and volunteers in period dress. The $10 entrance fee includes a $3 per-person tribal use fee paid directly to the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians. America the Beautiful passes are accepted. The park is cashless.