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New Mexico’s 32,737 –acre Bandelier
National Monument (named for 19th-century anthropologist Adolph Bandelier)
is best known for the thousands of ancestral Pueblo dwellings found
among its soaring mesas and vertical-walled canyons, but it also includes
more than 23,000 acres of designated Wilderness Area. Certain of the
monument’s archeological sites have been used the area for thousands
of years. Famous Frijoles Canyon, located near the Visitor Center, was
inhabited from the 1100s into the mid-1500s.
In summer months guided walks, crafts demonstrations and interpretive
lectures are available, and at other times as staffing permits. Self-guided
trails are open all year round. Perhaps the most popular activity in
Bandelier National Monument is walking the Main Loop Trail, which starts
at the Visitor Center and leads through many excavated archeological
sites. There are other trails of various difficulty levels, as well
as opportunities for backpacking and bird watching. Pets and bicycles
are not permitted on the trails. |
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