Trail to an Ancient Home Wayside
in Arizona · centroid 57 mi from Phoenix
Trail to an Ancient Home The Lower Cliff Dwelling trail gains 350 feet (115 meters) over a half-mile (1 kilometer). The trail closes to uphill traffic at 4:00 p.m. September through May and at 12:00 p.m.
June through August. From the rocks to the plants, everything must stay where you found it. Every object helps to tell the story of the Monument. It is unlawful to take or deface any object from a National Park Service site (36 CFR 2.1).
(Image of illustrated hillside depicting trail from Visitor Center to Lower Cliff Dwelling.) Be Safe and Protect the Resource (Image of prohibition sign depicting a boot print.) (Image of prohibition sign depicting a hand picking a flower.) Stay on the paved trail. Bring water and drink it. Do not remove or deface any objects.
- States
- Arizona
- Trail type
- National Monument trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Phoenix, AZ · 57 mi · ~1.6 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 33.6451°, -111.1132°
About Tonto National Monument
This trail is inside Tonto National Monument, a national monument managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $10 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/trail-to-an-ancient-home-wayside.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/tont/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Trail to an Ancient Home Wayside and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Mazatzal Divide Trail #23
39 miles from this trail's centroid
Military Sinkhole Trail #179
47 miles from this trail's centroid
General George Crook National Recreation Trail
49 miles from this trail's centroid
Aspen Trail 411
50 miles from this trail's centroid
Carr Lake Trail 412
50 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.