The S'edav Va'aki Museum, which until March 23, 2023 was known as the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park, is located at the site of a 1,500-year-old Ancestral Sonoran Desert (also known as O'Odham) community right in the middle of the City of Phoenix. It is operated and maintained by City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation. It is easily reached by car, bus, or light rail. If you're flying to, from, or through Phoenix and if you have the time, you can even visit with a free ride between the Museum and Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport via the PHX Sky Train. Yes, this archaeological site and National Historic Landmark is that close to the airport.
There is an admission charge to enter the museum. There is plenty of free parking.
In addition to a fully-accessible 0.67 mile/1.1 km trail around the village site, the Museum complex itself contains three galleries of O'Odham artifacts and interpretive exhibits about life in the village during the thousand years it was occupied. Open days and hours are seasonal. Please see the Museum's Plan Your Visit page for current hours of operation, admission fees, closure dates, etc.
Maricopa County area cachers, note: While there is an admission fee to S'edav Va'aki, if you have a card at any library in the Maricopa County Library District you can obtain a Culture Pass at your library which will provide you with free admission for two people at S'edav Va'aki as well as at other cultural organizations in Arizona.
To claim your find:
You have two options:
- The posted coordinates will take you to a view of The Platform Mound (or "Va'aki") known as The Maze Overlook. Take a photograph of yourself(ves) and/or your GPS/Phone at the posted coordinates. The photograph should show The Maze (to the northwest of the interpretive sign) in the background. Post the photo(s) with your log.
- Though the Platform Mound trail is completely paved and considered accessible, it may be that the slope of the trail would be difficult for some. In that case visit the "Pithouse Replicas" waypoint instead, and photograph yourself(ves) and/or your GPS/Phone with the Pithouse Replicas in the background. Post your photo(s) with your log. While this will be a longer walk than the first option, it is completely level.
Of course we'd be delghted if you were to visit and post photos from both waypoints, along with any other photos from Pueblo Grande that you would care to share.
Please stay on the trail and improved surfaces (which include the Pithouses). Items in the Pithouses and Adobe Compound are fragile. Please touch carefully! And please be respectful of this ancient historic site.
We hope you'll enjoy your visit to this fascinating ancient venue in the midst of the fifth-largest city in the USA.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.