The Simon Canyon site is the most northwestern of the structures attributed to the Gobernador phase of Navajo history (1700-1775). The site consists of a single room on a large boulder. The room is rather well preserved with the greater part of the roof intact. Of all the remaining structures of this period in Navajo history, it appears to have been the most vulnerable to Ute raiding which has frequently been named as one of the causes for the Navajo abandonment of the area. There are no other sites in its vicinity which have been attributed to the Navajo. The site position north of the San Juan river separates it from the major contemporary Navajo populations in Gobernador and Largo Canyons. Simon Canyon ruin was nominated to the national register of historic places in 1975. The site was stabilized by the BLM stabilization team in 1975.
Notice my daughter attempting to climb up on the rock via an old log leaned against the rock and a hemp rope anchored from the top. (Getting into this ruin is a real challenge and not for the weak of heart.)
You can see the roof as you look down on the Simon Canyon ruin from the canyon walls.
When the sun is just right, you can see a pictograph on the side of the boulder underneath the ruin.
Opening text quoted from the BLM marker found on site.
E-mail: ron@neartime.com