2.3 miles away
Mount Graham International Observatory
A University of Arizona observatory in the Pinaleño Mountains, site of the Large Binocular Telescope and contested since construction began in 1989.
Point of Pines Sites
Archaeological sites on the San Carlos Apache Reservation where a 1946-60 field school found Ancestral Pueblo, Mogollon and Hohokam evidence.
- Rank in Arizona
- #368of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 39.9 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Historic Site
The Point of Pines Sites are a set of archaeological sites on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, around the settlement of Point of Pines, significant for their associations with the Ancestral Pueblo, Mogollon and Hohokam cultures. Emil Haury chose the area as a field school site because of the unusual presence there of all three prehistoric cultures; the field school ran from 1946 to 1960 and collected large amounts of evidence from numerous sites, with the anthropologist Richard B. Woodbury among its participants. The region occupies a high plain bounded by the Nantack Ridge and the Willow Mountains, showing extensive evidence of prehistoric occupation; its early sites fit the Mogollon culture model identified by Haury, while after the 13th century an influx of Anasazi from the Colorado Plateau, and possibly Hohokam from the Safford region, is indicated by the presence of Jeddito ware, a pottery type associated with the Hopi heartland. Haury's student Terah Smiley excavated and identified a rectangular Western Pueblo-style kiva at several of the sites, a form still in use today. The sites were collectively declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
Where it is
Point of Pines Sites is a historic site near Safford, in Graham County. It is one of the historic sites in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Point of Pines Sites, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
Nearby attractions
5.4 miles away
Roper Lake State Park
An Arizona state park around a 32-acre lake five miles south of Safford, below the Pinaleño Mountains.7.8 miles away
Dankworth Pond State Park
A subunit of Roper Lake State Park near Safford with fishing and birdwatching, and a recreated Paleo-Indian village on an interpretive trail.8.3 miles away
Sanchez CCC Camp
Sanchez CCC Camp, near Safford, Arizona, preserves several buildings of a Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps camp, managed by the BLM.
13 miles away
Mount Graham
A 10,720-foot peak north-east of Tucson, the highest in the Pinaleño Mountains and the southernmost land above 10,000 feet in the country.
13 miles away
Pinaleño Mountains
A Madrean sky island range near Safford with over 7,000 feet of relief, rising to Mount Graham at 10,720 feet.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Historic Site
- Destination
- Safford
- County
- Graham County
- State
- Arizona
- Designations
- National Historic Landmark · National Register of Historic Places listed place
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 39.9 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 0.2
- Significance score
- 73.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Coordinates
- 32.8333, -109.7167
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12