Bandelier National Monument preserves the homes and the land of the Ancestral Puebloans. The Native Americans lived on the Pajarito Plateau along the slopes of the Jemez Mountains, in what is now Northern New Mexico, from 1150 to nearly 1600. Their homes were carved into the steep volcanic tuffs. Corn and beans were planted in the mesa fields. And they hunted deer, squirrels, and rabbits that lived in the surrounding forest.
President Woodrow Wilson established the national monument in 1916 and named it after a Swiss anthropologist who researched the area’s cultures. More than 70 percent of the 50-square-mile area is covered with dense wilderness. The elevation increases an entire mile—from the Rio Grande riverbed to the peak of the Cerro Grande—within this relatively small area. Frijoles Canyon, where the Ancestral Puebloans lived, is filled with pueblo homes, religious kivas, and petroglyphs. While more than 70 miles of hiking trails fill the protected area.
When you finish the Main Loop, move onto the Falls Trail. It’s a steep hike up the 1.5-mile path to the Upper Falls, a beautiful waterfall. Much of the trail was destroyed during a 2011 flash flood; the plank bridges were only recently restored. Or follow the Tyuonyi Overlook Trail across the mesa, through juniper-filled woods, and by archaeological sites for a stunning view into Frijoles Canyon. Just finish your hike before the hot afternoon—and the possible thunderstorms—arrives. You need time to plan your next trek anyway. Los Alamos, perhaps?