Bandelier National Monument was my favorite park I went to in New Mexico. There's so much to see, but it is doable in one day or less.
My second day on my trip to New Mexico and West Texas in September and October 2021 was spent in Bandelier National Monument and the area around Los Alamos, both on the eastern end of the Jemez Mountains (see more about my time in the Jemez Mountains here and about Los Alamos here).
Bandelier National Monument is split into two sections, the main part of the park and the Tsankawi Prehistoric Sites. The latter of the two is less visited, but I consider it to be a hidden gem. The two different sections of the park had two separate groups of Ancestral Pueblo people living in them.
The mesas in this area were formed from soft, porous Bandelier tuff (volcanic ash from the Valles Caldera supervolcano explosions). The canyons between mesas are from rivers eroding the rock. The ancient pueblo people carved into the rock because of its softness and expanded upon the natural holes in the tuff to create little caves called cavates. They lived in cliff dwellings built into the sides of the cliffs and in large villages in the valleys or on top of mesas. They lived in these structures around the 1400s, and moved out and along the Rio Grande sometime in the 1500s.
Important Note: This archeological site was home to some of the Ancestral Pueblo people, and present day Pueblo people believe their ancestors' spirits live here. Visitors should be respectful. Collecting rocks and artifacts is illegal in the national park system, and I feel that in this case, it is extra important to leave everything as is because of the spiritual nature of the place. If you take a pottery shard, and you know it's wrong, I hope some ancient old lady Pueblo grandma's spirit haunts you.
Tsankawi Prehistoric Sites
This area of the park is probably missed by most people visiting Bandelier. It has a small parking area along the side of NM Route 4, about 30 minutes north of the main park area, just above White Rock. Be on the look out for the sign. I drove right by it, even while looking for it, using a GPS, and I had to turn around.
There is only one trail which is about a 1.5 mile loop that is mostly flat except for a few ladders and some narrow trenches.
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| A ladder along the trail |
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| I actually love this picture with my hand in it without cropping it out. I'm not sure why. |
The Tsankawi village was located on top of the mesa. Additional cliff dwellings carved into the rock below the mesas were also lived in at the same time. There are several of these cavates along the trail that you can crawl into.
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| Cavates lining the trail |
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| Oh yeah, that's one good looking cavate. Up and to the right you can see a footpath. |
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| Me cheesing in a cavate. |
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| Looking out from it. |
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| Imagine waking up and having this view |
This trail is so unusual and incredible because you literally walk in the footsteps of the Ancient Pueblo people. The trail follows ancient trails that have been worn into the soft rock for hundreds of years. What a unique experience! I did find it a little confusing to stay on trail when there were many ancient paths splitting off from the designated trail, so it was extra important to pay attention to the trail signs.
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| The most narrow and deep part of the path. If squeezing through this isn't your cup of tea, there is an alternate path around. |
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| My favorite picture of the ancient paths. |
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| My favorite picture of me chest deep walking along one. |
There were petroglyphs carved into the sides of the cliffs that I almost walked by without even noticing. To be honest, the only reason I saw them is because I saw a group of people ahead of me pointing and talking about them. I would have just walked right by without realizing that I could see them at this site.
They can be hard to see depending on what position the sun is in the sky. I had overheard a tour guide say that some Pueblo people believe that certain petroglyphs appear to you at certain times and moments, only when they want to be seen.
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| I named this petroglyph, "Proof Man and Dinosaur Lived Together." I have no idea what it is, but I am sure that it is NOT a dinosaur. Probably a bird. |
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| Petroglyphs covered this cliff section |
Pueblo Loop Trail
Next, I drove over to the main section of the park where I did the main trail, called the Pueblo Loop, that goes by several points of interest.
There are the ruins of a Big Kiva (a circular meeting room) and the massive circular village of Tyuonyi with over 400 rooms. Both of these are located on the canyon floor. They would have lived in these during the farming season and farmed the fields around them.
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| Big Kiva |
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| Remnants of the giant village of Tyuonyi |
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| View of the canyon cliffs behind Tyuonyi |
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| As you start to walk up and away, and look back at the village, you get a better picture of how big it was |
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| Another higher up view of the village where the circular shape is evident |
After passing the village, the trail climbs up steps and along the cliffs. Here you go by two sets of massive multilevel cliff dwellings, Talus House and Long House, with a few cavates that you can climb ladders up into. There were several cliff walls full of petroglyphs along, beside, and above the cliff dwellings. They lived in the cliff dwellings at the same time as in Tyuonyi, and it is believed that they rotated seasonally between the two.
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| Up the ladder! |
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| Quite possibly the least flattering picture ever taken of me. |
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| A neat view of the village down below from one of the cavates. |
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| In a multiroom cavate. |
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| You aren't allowed in this one, but I thought it was neat how you can see the indents where they climbed up to it. |
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| The trail along Long House |
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| A neat picture showing at least 3 stories of rooms in the cliffs at Long House. |
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| Here you get a good idea of the brick rooms built against the cliffs. The cavates were the back rooms in the structure or were little storage cubbies. |
Everywhere you look at the cliffs around Long House are petroglyphs. The longer you stand there, the more you see.
As I was walking, I got to a Park guide standing and pointing out different petroglyphs. I pointed out what was clearly a horse and asked if it was a horse. The guy said no. I said that it was obviously a horse. He said no again, it was a macaw. I pointed out the horse bridle and mane and that he was munching on some grass - all horse qualities. A woman next to me was also adamant that it was a horse. The guy said that there were no horses there at the time. I told him I knew a horse when I saw one and that this was clearly a horse. I don't know if he appreciated me joking with him, but I thought it was funny. Apparently their culture was really impressed with birds, but I don't think they were the best at carving them - not that I would be better at carving something into a cliff.
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| More petroglyphs, look closely and see the "macaw" |
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| What does it look like to you? |
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| They REALLY liked their birds |
Alcove House
Hike an additional half mile off of the Pueblo Loop Trail to get to Alcove House, a massive cliff dwelling. The 140ft climb up to the top includes 4 ladders with several steps along cliff edges.
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Looking up at Alcove House. You can see some of the ladders going up on the left.
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| Warning sign before the first ladder. I saw multiple people turn around and decide it wasn't for them after climbing about 3 feet. |
This was my second day in New Mexico and I was still adjusting to the altitude - the park has an elevation of about 10,000ft. I felt like an out of shape loser climbing up, but I knew I was still acclimating, I had only been at this elevation a few other times in my life and I remember it really affecting me before.
I was a little nervous to climb down, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because you are facing the ladder.
Inside Alcove House is a reconstructed kiva and some nice views.
Check out my GoPro video of my hike here.
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| My attempt at part of a photosphere picture inside the cliff dwelling. |
The loop back to the visitor center area was a nature trail through the pines along the creek with signs about the different animals and plants in the area.
With more time, I would have enjoyed hiking the Frijoles and Falls trails, but I got to see and hike the main trails in the park. I enjoyed every hike I took and knowing what I know now after the fact, I would have done everything the same.
More Information and and my Resources:
My information is from my observations along with interpretive signs, handouts, and educational and official websites. Check out the link below for more info on the topics covered in this post.
Bandelier National Monument
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