The Island Loop Trail leads past numerous restored Sinagua ruins built under great rock overhangs in Walnut Canyon. Sinagua, meaning "The people without water," lived in the stone pueblos and planted fields on the plateau above the canyon while utilizing the abundant natural resources from the surrounding forests and riparian habitat along the streams. The Sinagua people first arrived in the San Francisco Peaks region about 600 AD. They experienced the eruptions at Sunset Crater. In the period after the eruptions the culture changed and flourished. It was after the eruption periods that the above-ground villages at Wupatki, and the cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon were constructed (betwen 1125 and 1250 AD). The people departed the canyon area about 1250 AD. It is thought that they may have assimilated into Hopi culture.
