Forgotten Canyon Ruins | Defiance House | Lake Powell

Posted in National Parks / Water Activities
Updated January 1, 2023

Forgotten Canyon Ruins, also called Defiance House, can only be reached by boat. It is a great place to explore with kids on your next trip to Lake Powell. Forgotten Canyon is located near the Bullfrog Marina, so if you have launched from there, you should be able to find it pretty easily.

When you near the end of the canyon, stay to the right side if the water is low. Otherwise, you can beach your boat on the sandbar. Moor the boat when the water gets shallow and walk along the flat sandy area on the left side of the water.

Depending on the level of the lake, the trail distance can fluctuate. We visited in October 2019 and we hiked about 2.0 miles roundtrip to Defiance House. Other times it can longer as the water levels are lower right now.

The canyon ends here. Then the hike begins.

After parking the boat, head around the rocks to the open canyon.

After only about 50 yards, you’ll come to the one water crossing on this hike. It is only about knee deep on a low water year. From that point, there is an obvious trail up the canyon. It is relatively flat for about a third of a mile, and then the petroglyphs appear high up on the wall on the left side of the trail. There is a large alcove, and you can see steps leading up to the ruins high above.

This is in October. There might be more water here in the summer.

The trail walks through bushes, sand, and rocks.

There is a well-traveled trail after you cross the water.

It’s really thick to climb to the Forgotten Canyon ruins, and there are ghost trails everywhere. You have to bushwhack and climb a few steep places to reach the steps, but the climb is worth it.

This sign gives you a good warning to be careful while hiking.

Once you reach the top, you can see some really old petroglyphs along with the obvious ones. You can climb right in the reconstructed ruins, which includes scaling a narrow ladder that leads down into a pit house. The original timbers have been used in the reconstruction, and our boys thought it was so interesting.

There are signs. That’s how you’ll know that you have found it!

There is a climb up to the ruins and petroglyphs.

forgotten ruins — There are some cool petroglyphs.

child climbing ladder in forgotten ruins — The boys loved being able to go inside the pit house.

inside the kiva of forgotten ruins — It’s neat to think of people living here.

There are so many places to visit at Lake Powell, but Forgotten Canyon Ruins and Petroglyphs are an easy, family-friendly hike that allows you to get off the boat for some exploring. For more historical information, check the national park website.