When I arrive in New Mexico I always feel like I am stepping into a spaghetti western. With red sand, canyons and cliffs, cacti and scraggy shrubs as far as the eye can see, it is a desolate, barren and stunningly beautiful landscape.
One of my favourite places is Bandelier, a National Monument preserving the homes and territory of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Whenever I visit my sister I make at least one visit. It is imposing, fascinating and steeped in history – awesome! There is evidence of humans at the site, dating back more than 10,000 years, but the main ruins date from the 1300’s.
The preservation, and protection, provided for this early settlement in Frijoles Canyon is wonderful and it is terribly sad to see the damage caused in the recent flooding – which is a result of the of 2011 forest fire that burned away all ground cover thereby leaving the area prone to flash floods. When we visited last week they were still feeling the effects of the latest flood that happened just a few weeks ago.
You set out from the visitors centre, where there is lovely little museum, along with a gift shop and snack bar.
The view that awaits you as you move away from the visitors centre is nothing short of stunning.
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You pass the ruins of the Kiva (meeting place) and of the Tyuonyi pueblo houses.
You then begin the climb up alongside the cliff face to the cliff dwellings. The path takes you past three caves (formed by digging out the soft volcanic tuff from which the cliffs are made) that you can enter.
The last time we were here was about two and half years ago and the 4yo was in the back pack and the 7yo slightly more nervous of the ladders! This time they both scampered up (although needed a little help on one of the ladders to get back on to it at the top!).
I’m not a fan of heights but the boys did manage to persuade me to join them in one of the caves. It is amazing to think that for several hundred years this canyon was occupied. Many of the cave rooms, which are called cavates, would have had a stone room built in front of them.
The final part of the walk takes you past the long house, where multi-story dwellings were built against the rock face. You can see the holes for the supporting structure in this photo along with some of the petroglyphs carved on the cliff face and a painted pictograph.
The wee girl wasn’t happy that she couldn’t get out and join in, but the path and steep steps are not suitable for toddlers. The safest place for her was in the back pack until we were back down on the canyon floor.
Once we were back at the creek all three of the kids had a good run around, investigating the path back to the visitors centre. The wee girl was particularly pleased to escape the confines of the back pack!
There are normally bridges crossing the creek, but these have all been washed away in the recent flash floods. There were piles of mud and branches that had been washed down through the canyon and caught on trees. There was a layer of silt on the paths and we kicked up quite a dust storm as we walked back. We had to walk quite a bit further than usual to get back to a point where we were able to cross the creek again and get back to the visitors centre.
We stuck to just doing the main loop trail, as this is quite long enough with the kids. There are other trails into and out of the canyon, and other dwellings to visit. Sadly the alcove house, that sits 140 feet up four ladders (I have never climbed up there…) is closed at the moment, due to the floods destabilising it.
Another consequence of the fire and subsequent floods is that you currently can’t drive into the canyon, you must park at the White Rock Visitors Centre and get a shuttle bus from there. This was actually brilliant, and the kids loved it!
Once we’d finished our walk we had time to get some lunch before catching a shuttle back to our car. As you drive back up and out of the canyon the views back down into the canyon are amazing, if a little scary! Another steep mountain road for me – there seem to have been a few of those this summer!
It’s hard to get a real feel for the majesty and sheer scale of the landscape with a standard camera. I didn’t take our ‘big’ camera with me on this trip, so I was limited in my options. Hopefully some of these images give you an idea of what it is like.
A wonderful place to visit and experience. I am so glad to have been able to take the kids there, and I can’t wait to go back when the wee girl is old enough to navigate the cliff path and climb the ladders too.
I am linking up with the wonderful Coombe Mill’s Country Kids again this week. Click on the badge to see what everyone else has been up to!
I absolutely love it Sara, what an awesome place and I was playing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly music in my head. I can see why you wanted to share this place with the children. I love the picture of your 3 men looking out. It sounds like you had a fantastic trip to your sisters too x
Thank you – it really is awesome! We had a good holiday – it was nice to spend time at my sisters. She really does live in a beautiful part of the country.
One word – amazing. No let’s make it two words – amazing and incredible. What an amazing place to take your kids and how incredible for them to learn the power of nature to damage.
Thank you – it really is a fantastic place, just stunning. The boys were surprised by all the mud and branches, and the lack of bridges – a good experience for them.
Thank you for sharing that Sara – seeing the imagery really gives a good feel of the place. It is a shame about the flooding. Do you think you will be going again when the wee girl is bigger and can explore without being in the backpack?
I’m glad you could get a feel for it – it is stunning. We will definitely try and go back in a couple of years when the wee girl is old enough to clamber about too. As long as my sister stays there, we’ll visit every couple of years :)
Wow, just wow! Again, another reason I want to head back! :)
Thank you – it is the most beautiful place x
Amazing! My six year old looked over my shoulder and was asking when we could go there. I see his point. Fun to see how the children have grown at each visit.
It is an amazing place to visit :)
What a stunning place to explore – there is so much to see there! A wonderful family day full of exploring and adventure. Thanks for linking up and sharing your stunning photos with Country Kids.
It was a great day – I had been worried we wouldn’t manage it this year, so was very pleased to get there! Thanks for hosting :)
Wow, it looks amazing, and nothing like you’d see in the UK so great to see.
Thank you, it is fabulous x
Wow, that is stunning! Makes all the other Country Kids posts today seem very tame. Your kids are very brave, I’m not sure I would have been keen on some of those ladders!
Oh, thank you Sarah x I’m not keen on the ladders :) I was pleased to see the boys head straight up them though!
What an amazing place – you have some great photos too. It looks very American (if that doesn’t sound too silly!)
Doesn’t sound silly at all, I think the same. The landscape is just exactly what I imagine when I think of cowboys :)
Absolutely stunning. What an amazing time you all had, with fabulous photos to look back on
Thank you x It’s a wonderful place to visit.
What an absolutely stunning place to visit. Fabulous!
Thank you – it’s just stunning, I love it!
That looks amazing, I’d love to visit there one day.
It is such a great place to visit, well worth it. When the kids are older I’d like to do some of the longer hikes, and perhaps camp there.
Wow that looks amazing! Such stunning photographs too, I bet it is a real experience visiting there.
It really is, the museum is worth a visit too. A lot of history there x