We camped Friday night at Muley Point so we didn’t have too far to go Saturday morning to our first destination, the Citadel, off of Cigarette Springs Road. The ruins aren’t as extensive as Moon House, but they are in a stellar location at the end of a peninsula extending into Road Canyon. The hike was just as fun as the destination.

The hike to the ruins is about 4 miles RT and 265 feet elevation loss/gain. The first part of the hike crosses the mesa and there are views into Road Canyon. Following the cairns, the trail eventually led to the edge where we dropped down to the slickrock. We traversed the slickrock and gradually the peninsula leading to the Citadel came into view. It’s a pretty impressive bit of geology. It is about 300 yards across the land bridge to the end of the peninsula and the location of the cliff dwellings. Although it has sheer drops on either side, the land bridge is wide enough that it feels fine to walk across (coming from someone who doesn’t like exposure). At the end there is a small scramble up to the ruins.

The Citadel is a well preserved set of ruins. The location is just as impressive for its views and lofty perch in the canyon. The location definitely lends itself well to defensive measures, although we thought water could pose a problem. Our best guess was in spring the potholes could provide a source of easily accessible water.

This was a cool hike. My only regret is that the light was horrible for pictures (combination of smoke, no clouds, and harsh light). It would definitely be worth a return on a more scenic day.