Bandelier, located approximately 43 miles from Santa Fe, is a popular destination for many visitors to northern New Mexico. Designated a National Monument in 1916, the park covers 33,750 acres and has 70 miles of hiking trails.
The park is best known for the Ancestral Pueblo dwellings located a short distance from the Visitor Center. The Ruins Trail, or Main Loop Trail, is 1.2 miles in length. Most of the trail is relatively level, wide and paved, although there is an incline as you climb up to the cliff dwellings as well as sections with steep and narrow stairs.
Along the Ruins Trail, visitors can use their imagination and go back, some 800 to 900 years ago, to a time when the Ancient Puebloans inhabited Frijoles Canyon. The Great Kiva, Tyuonyi Ruins, the Sun House, the Snake House, and the Long House all provide a fascinating glimpse into the history and culture of these ancient people.
This photo of Linda and Bernadette, two sisters visiting Santa Fe, was taken in front of the Great Kiva. It’s the largest excavated kiva that I’ve seen at Bandelier (in the Pajarito Plateau, for that matter) and it reminds me of the kivas at Chaco Canyon. The Great Kiva stands outside the walls of Tyuonyi Pueblo and is believed to have been a gathering place for several communities who inhabited Frijoles Canyon around 1200 AD.
The cave dwellings of Frijoles Canyon are located along the south facing cliff walls. The Ancient Puebloans ingeniously enlarged the natural pockets that existed in the volcanic rock, using them as homes and storage space; they also built talus houses that extended from the cliff, some of which may have been two to three stories tall.
The views from the cliff dwellings of the canyon and Tyuonyi Pueblo are striking. My favorite place along the trail is where the Snake House is located. There’s a set of four caves that you can climb up into – I tell my New York clients and friends that this is the equivalent of a Park Avenue 4 bedroom apartment – and, as you look out, you feel as if you could just sit there all day and be at total peace (which I never could do while I lived in New York City).
Continuing along the Main Loop, the “Long House is an 800 foot condominium-style community that extended along the canyon wall” (source: www.scienceviews.com). It’s a great place to look for petroglyphs etched into the cliff walls – there are lots of kachina masks, figures of birds, circles that represent shields. Depending on the time of day and the nature of the skies, some petroglyphs will appear more prominently than others.
For those who are not fearful of heights, and weather permitting, it’s worthwhile walking an extra mile (round trip) to the Alcove House, climbing 4 separate wooden ladders to a large cave in the cliff wall, 140 feet up above the ground, to view and enter a reconstructed kiva.
Santa Fe Mountain Adventures offers private guided tours of Bandelier National Monument year round. As a guide, what I enjoy most about taking visitors to Bandelier is that, in one place, I can share the history of the Ancient Puebloans as well as the natural beauty of New Mexico. Bandelier is solemn in a sense – it’s a place to be respected – and yet it’s a place where one can let the inner child come out to play as you climb up ladders and into caves. Each and every outing is different – I have visited Bandelier countless times and I have yet to be bored. As I told a client, I learn from each person I am with and I get to show them what I love about New Mexico – its history, its culture, its people, and occasionally, its wildlife – a mule deer, a coyote, or even a bear! Come hike with us! Let’s go Walkabout and visit Bandelier National Monument, one of New Mexico’s treasure.
The drums beat no more, and the songs are now silent. Yet the spirit of those who lived here continues to dwell in the magic that is Bandelier National Monument. Natural beauty and years of culture bring to life the enchanted land of tan cliffs, forested mesas, and deep gorges.
– Cecilia Shields
