Rusty and I, like many others, were drawn to Bandelier National Monument for its cultural and geological importance in this area of northern New Mexico. Over 1.25 million years ago, a volcano erupted here (the remains of which is now named Valle Caldera) and shaped the landscape that includes Bandelier, along with the nearby San Miguel and Jemez Mountains. Its rich soil, abundance of wildlife, and mountain caves drew ancestral Pueblo people to the region in the mid-1100s to the 1500s, descendants of hunters and gatherers who lived in this area over 10,000 years ago.
View of the pueblo village ruins on the canyon floor 
More ruins with cliff dwellings in the background 
The cliff dwellings ran for nearly a mile along the canyon walls 
NPS allowed access to only a few of the caves 
Reconstructed adobe home that lined the front of the caves 
Sleeping platforms carved out of the volcanic tuff
There are so many places to explore in Bandelier that we didn’t know exactly where to start! So, we found a nice campsite at Juniper Campground at the top of a mesa and spent our first day reading about Bandelier while setting up our camp for the next few days. Rusty took a 7-mile hike down the Frey Trail to the visitor center, where he explored some of the cave dwellings including the Alcove House, located within the Frijoles Canyon. The next day, we drove to the visitor center for a ranger walk, where we learned a lot about the ancestral Pueblo people. We then set out on our own to explore some of the cave dwellings along the Pueblo Loop Trail.
The people who built these cliff dwellings lived in clans throughout the area, some high in the mountains, some on the surrounding mesas, and others throughout the valley. They planted crops, without irrigation, that included corn, beans and squash, gathered native plants for food and medicine, and hunted deer, rabbit, and squirrels. Sometime later on, either due to prolonged drought or to overuse of the local resources, the Puebloans left this settlement for new homes along the Rio Grande and elsewhere.
Girl Hobo inspects a dwelling 
Inside a dwelling 
Some cliff dwellings contain multiple rooms 
The cliff dwellings were several levels tall 
The largest kiva (community gathering space) at Bandelier 
Pictographs and petroglyphs 
The cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblos line the Frijoles Canyon, which empties into the Rio Grande a few miles beyond
We wish we had allotted more time here to visit other cliff sites, like the Tsankawi section, and do some backcountry camping along the canyon ridges. (Alas, we’ll definitely have to come back here again!) After we left our campground, we headed to Valle Caldera for a short hike and a drive within that National Preserve. The Caldera was beautiful with open grasslands, lively forests, and vital wetlands hosting a myriad of wildlife like Gunnison’s prairie dogs, coyotes, Abert’s squirrels, mountain bluebirds, and elk.
This was our last adventure in New Mexico, as we headed to Colorado to visit friends and hike the Colorado Trail.
~ Girl Hobo
We are Girl Hobo and Rusty (Ren and Troy), two greys who met on the Appalachian Trail. We started a life together, converted a van to travel and hike across the country, and we like to eat well. Now, we’re sharing what we’re learning on the road, and we’d love you to join us!