Exploring NE New Mexico to SW Colorado
From Santa Fe to Mesa Verde
Puye Cliff Dwellings
You need only a 1/2 day to visit the Puye Cliff Dwellings and I highly recommend staying in Santa Fe since it is only a 35 minute drive from Santa Fe. I have been there three times and I learned something new each time. Our last tour we did was only an hour, which is the Mesa Top tour. This is a great tour but if you are able and can arrive early, I recommend the Adventure Tour which is 2 hours in duration. On the Mesa Top tour you get to see a little of the cliff dwellings but the Adventure Tour is comprehensive and goes into the dwelling as well as the city on the Mesa Top. There were two 70 year old people in our group and they were able to get up and down the ladders and steep wall stairs. However, my Dad, who just had knee surgery, decided not to climb ladders (excellent idea). Please know that you will need your knees for this excursion. Arrive before they open at 9am. Bring water – there is no potable water available unless you buy a disposable bottle. We also brought a picnic for the car on the way home and that was great after standing in the sun. I do also recommend a sun shirt, pants, good hiking shoes, and wear a good hat! There are biting flies and fire ants on the mesa top and it is better to be protected in case you come across them.
We did not go to Bandeleir while we were in Santa Fe this last time. It’s about 50 minutes from downtown and we will definitely go next time. The Bandelier dwellings have “long houses” which date from 1150-1550 CE, which is in line with the Puye Cliff Dwellings 900-1580 CE, after the great migration South around 1300 CE from Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. These dwellings are all related and very fun to see one after the next because you can really see history in the architecture!
Chaco Canyon
We stayed only 1 night near here, boondocking (dry camping) at Horse Thief Campground on the northern entrance route, and were only able to explore Pueblo Bonito. Next time we will plan to stay two or three nights and go both mornings into the Park. In the future I would do it like this:
Afternoon/Evening, Day of Arrival
Go into Chaco Canyon and swing by the Visitors Center (check hours of operation!) and get the booklets for Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyao Trail Guide and Casa Rinconada Trail Guide. Great time to also look around the visitor area which has a ton of information and find out of there are any free guided tours the next day (often canceled due to staffing).
Morning, Day 1
Arrive early, possibly at 7am (sunrise in July is at 6am) and drive past the visitor center to Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito (same parking lot). The self guided tour for Pueblo Bonito (using the booklet) took us about an hour this last time and we felt very rushed due to the heat. Ideally I would like to spend from 7-9am walking the paths, seeing the Petroglyphs (get a simple book guide so you can “read” or interpret them)!
Afternoon, Day 1
Rest or explore the Pueblo del Arroyo, or Casa Rinconada Communities (it will be hot!)
Evening, Day 1
Eat a nice Camp Dinner at the dry camp, watch the sunset, and get ready for some amazing stargazing if the sky is clear!
Morning, Day 2
Hiking Morning! Arrive into the canyon at 6am for the sunrise (July) and park at Pueblo del Arroyo. Hike .3 mi to Kin Klesto EITHER turn right to walk .7 miles (1 mile total) to the beginning of a 3.1 mile loop (that would be 4.1 miles if you did the whole thing). On the loop is a Chacoan Stairway and the Pueblo Alto Complex OR skip the loop and continue straight for .7mi (1 mile total) to Casa Chiquita. Beyond Casa Chaquita you can continue to walk .8mi viewing many Petroglyphs and then an additional 1.1 mi to the Pictographs and if you keep going all the way to Peasco Blanco, which is at the end of the trail and .8 mi past the Pictographs. All in all, if you go the straight route instead of going up to the loop, the hike is 3.7 mi, one way.
BRING hiking shoes, salty snacks, lots of water!
Afternoon, Day 2
Break camp and go to the Aztec Ruins National Monument (north) or Salmon Ruin (North). Continue to Shiprock and eat and camp intown.
Shiprock
We learned that Shiprock is a sacred and protected area and we couldn’t bring our RV in which was a bummer. In the future we will spend the night somewhere closer to Shiprock and take just our run-around vehicle closer to learn more about the heritage and geology of the area. One interesting note is that, of course, the first peoples did not think of Shiprock as looking like a ship because they had never seen a ship. Instead it was called: Tsé Bitʼaʼí in Navajo, which means “rock with wings”.
Four Corners Monument
This is just so fun. It is fun to stand on a dial with 4 states coming together: New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. For us, it is worth the $8/pp entrance fee and we all shopped around the square after taking pictures. Fry Bread is available in Food trucks.
Canyon of the Ancients and Mesa Verde
Both of these parks can be accessed by staying in Cortez or Dolores, Colorado. I would probably opt to stay in Dolores at The Views campground on the McPhee Reservoir. The reservoir is FANTASTIC for playing in the water if you rent a boat from Doc’s Marina. They provide tubes, water skis and lots of toys if you want to spend 4 hours on a party boat. Doc is great to work with – just call and the rest is done by text.
Canyon of the Ancients was hard to understand how to explore. It is basically a lot of BLM land which is awesome, but we didn’t have a good plan for going into it. We did go to the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum, which was a great cultural experience looking at artifacts and understanding the historical timeline of people’s movement in the area, and the staff are helpful in orienting you to the area and all the things you can explore. I also bought a bunch of museum books for the kids which is my favorite thing to do when visiting a museum.
There is a 1 mile hike, 1/2 mile up and 1/2 mile down, that is to the left of the museum and takes you to a Pueblo at the top. What we really enjoyed about the hike was that there are signs all along the way explaining the local plants and how the natives used them – learning about the shrubs and trees and how the First Peoples would use the items in their everyday lives. We all particularly liked learning about Gamble Oak which can be used to treat Poison Oak or Poison Ivy!
Since we didn’t do this trip quite how we would want to, here is my game plan for next time:
Morning, Day 1
6am – Bike ride or Hike at Sand Canyon trail starting from the South side. There are many ruins to see along the way and we would stop at mile 4 where the trail ascends 700 feet over 30 switchbacks.
Afternoon, Day 1
Rent a boat at Docs and spend lunch and the early afternoon on the water. It is glorious.
Morning, Day 2
Arrive before sunrise at Mesa Verde. Drive to the top while the sun is rising and the crowds are non-existent and most importantly – it is cool (as in not hot)! We took only 3 hours in the park but this could easily be a 5-6 hour adventure and I would highly recommend packing snacks, lunch, breakfast, whatever so that you don’t have to leave. The views are outstanding and the cultural learning is incredible. Download the Mesa Verde Audio Tour before you drive up because you lose reception about 10 miles into the park. All the sites are better than the pictures online and absolutely worth your time in understanding the Pueblo people from 500 CE to 1200 CE when they migrated south (to places like Bandelier and Puye). Take your time, enjoy.
We are headed now to Moab but next time I would also like to drive up to do a Full Day (could be 1/2 day) rafting trip at Browns Canyon.
A note about the History
Studying the first peoples of the current day Americas is a rich and vibrant history with much to look at – ruins and artifacts – and continued oral story traditions. Their building structures and cities rival those of the Early Medieval time in Europe when stone work was also just starting to take off, replacing the wooden structures (both American First Peoples and European) that were faster to deteriorate or catch fire.
Stone work for the First Peoples is dated to the 500 C.E. and can be seen in excavations and preserved in Mesa Verde.
Pueblo Bonito “Beautiful Town”, named by Lt. James Simposn and his Mexican guide, Carravahal, is a cultural heritage site of great gathering of the Pueblo, Hopi and Navajo people. Building started in 850 C.E. and continued to 1150 C.E. and is currently preserved as a well intact architecture masterpiece. Our learning journey started with the Puye Cliff Dwelling outside of Santa Fe. These were the most modern structures and their stone and double wall masonry reflect the learnings in architecture from 550 CE to 1300 CE when the great migration occurred leaving these many sites to be discovered 400-600 years later.
Bandelier and Puye are the most ‘modern’ sites of this time period with longhouses dating to 1550 when the Spanish arrived and more wars began for the First Peoples..