Wupatki Blowhole

The blowhole connects the surface to a large hidden network of cracks, passages, and caverns in the layered rock below, a void of surprising size. Air moves in and out of that void in response to changes in atmospheric pressure. When the pressure outside rises, air is pushed down into the opening and the hole inhales; when the pressure falls, the air trapped below expands and rushes back out, and the hole exhales. The effect can be strong enough to feel plainly and even to hear.

Because the behavior depends on the weather and the daily cycle of temperature and pressure, the blowhole is not always doing the same thing. On some visits it draws air in, on others it blows air out, and at moments of balance it may be nearly still. Scientists have used the flow to estimate the enormous volume of the underground space, far larger than the modest opening would suggest, though the full extent of the cave system remains unexplored and unknown.

The blowhole sits beside the largest of the pueblos in Wupatki National Monument, a substantial ancestral village built of red sandstone in the twelfth century. The people who lived here were part of the ancestral Puebloan world, a blending of the cultures archaeologists call the Sinagua, the Kayenta, and others, who farmed this dry country and traded across the wider Southwest. Their descendants live on today among the Hopi, the Zuni, and other Puebloan peoples, and the surrounding land is the homeland of the Navajo, or Diné.

It is easy to imagine that the breathing hole held meaning for the people of the pueblo, who lived right beside it. To many Puebloan cultures, openings in the earth carry deep significance, connections to the world below and to the forces of wind and breath. Whatever the ancient people made of it, the pairing of a great stone village and a hole that breathes gives this corner of the monument a particular sense of mystery and depth.

Wupatki National Monument protects a scattering of ancestral pueblos across a striking high-desert landscape of red and tan sandstone, black volcanic cinder, and open grassland, with the San Francisco Peaks rising on the southern horizon. The blowhole is one stop among several ancient sites, and a visit typically pairs it with the great Wupatki pueblo, a ballcourt, and other ruins reached by short trails.

The land here is a transition zone, where the volcanic country around Sunset Crater to the south gives way to the painted desert and the canyon of the Little Colorado River to the north. It is open, quiet, and often windswept, with long views in every direction. The combination of ancient architecture, dramatic geology, and the uncanny breathing hole makes this a place that rewards slowing down and paying attention to both the human and the natural history layered together here.

Spring and fall are the most pleasant times to visit, with mild days ideal for walking the pueblo trails and lingering at the blowhole. The high desert light is clear and the crowds are thin, and the wide landscape is at its most inviting.

Summer is hot and exposed on the open flats, so an early start, sun protection, and plenty of water are essential, and afternoon thunderstorms can build during the monsoon. Winter is cold and can bring snow to the higher ground, with crisp, clear days and a stark beauty to the red rock under a dusting of white. In any season, the blowhole's breathing continues, shifting with the pressure of the passing weather, an ever-changing wonder in an ancient place.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.