John Fowler/Flickr Creative Commons
They don’t call New Mexico the “Land of Enchantment” for nothing, as the place is chock-full of beautiful scenery, natural wonder, as well as history and historic structures going back to before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500’s. One of the most intriguing combinations of the natural beauty and historic structures are the cliff dwellings that still survive in New Mexico, so today I thought we’d take an imaginary drive to visit a couple of these magnificent sites.
In the southwest corner of New Mexico, north of Silver City is the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. It is reached by taking Hwy 180 north from Deming, NM (on I-10) until you reach Silver City, NM where you take Hwy 15 north to the monument. Once you’ve reached the monument, you can view the dwellings along a one mile long trail. The hike will take about an hour depending on how many photos you feel like taking. One of the amazing things about this particular park is you can actually go inside some of the houses in the cave, and of course you are welcome to look…but not touch. The Cliff Dwellings were fairly recently discovered at the end of the 1800’s, but of course date back to the late 1200’s when the Mogollon (mo-guh-yon) cukture built and inhabited these houses.
In north-central New Mexico, northwest of Santa Fe, is Bandalier National Monument, which is also home to stunning cliff dwellings and pueblo ruins. To reach Bandalier, you take Hwy 84 north from Santa Fe to Pojaque, NM where you turn left on Hwy 502. Follow 502 to the west until it intersects Hwy 4 and turn south on 4 to the Monument. The cliff dwellings at Bandelier were multi-story, and the site abounds in petroglyphs as well as wildlife. Ruins are accessible by trails of course, and the park service recommends packing enough water with you to stay comfortable on your hike.
Spring will be here before you know it and hitting the road again will be so much fun, remember to visit us at PPL Motorhomes for all your parts and accessories!