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Bandelier National Monument Trails

May 20, 2022

With all the truly beautiful destinations in New Mexico, it’s easy to overlook a few. But Bandelier National Park and its amazing trails is one of those unique destinations you won’t want to miss.

Tucked in between Santa Fe and Valles Caldera National Preserve, Bandelier is a sprawling 33,000 preserve protecting over 2,800 archeological sites belonging to the Ancestral Pueblo.

The Ancestral Pueblo people settled throughout the Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico from approximately 300 BCE to 1300 CE. It’s thought that they may have migrated to areas along the Rio Grande River for access to water, arriving around 1150-1550 CE. But there is also evidence that hunter-gathers were present as far back as the Paleoindian Period over 11,000 years ago.

The trails that weave throughout Bandelier take visitors directly into these areas where the Ancestral Pueblo lived. You can literally climb right inside a series of cavates (pronounced “Cave-Eights”), alcoves carved in stone that were used for multiple purposes. These cliff dwellings and ancestral ruins are one of the biggest draws to Bandelier, but there is much more to see along its gorgeous trails throughout the park.

Main Pueblo Loop Trail

Probably the most trekked trail within Bandelier National Park is what’s known as the Main Loop Trail, renamed the Pueblo Loop Trail. If this is the only thing you have time for during your visit to Bandelier National Monument, you won’t be disappointed.

Much of this 1.4-mile loop trail is accessible and perfectly suitable for a wheelchair or stroller. There is a small spur option along this Main Loop that requires some clever footwork to access the cavates. The Big Kiva and the Tyuonyi sites are before that section, and it’s also not necessary to take this little offshoot to see the larger cliff dwellings such as the Long House further down the trail.

If you want to take a peek at Bandelier’s Trail Map, go here.

Big Kiva

Once used as a group meeting site, the Big Kiva is one of the first things you’ll see when walking along the Main Pueblo Trail.

Tyuonyi

It’s difficult to imagine that this gridwork of curious stone walls were once a network of over 400 storage rooms for the people of this settlement.

Talus House

The Talus House is a reconstruction of what it might have looked like when the Ancestral Pueblo lived here. Some of these structures were built in front of the cavates and were several stories tall.

Long House

The Long House is a series of cavates built along a striking vertical cliff and one of the absolute highlights of the Main Loop Trail at Bandelier. To fully appreciate what you’ll be seeing, I highly recommend watching this computer-generated animation showing how the site was used.

Alcove House

If you have the time, I highly recommend walking the additional half mile to see the Alcove House after viewing the Long House Cliff Dwellings, even if you don’t feeling like climbing your way to the top of the site. And the climbing is not for the faint of heart. It’s a pretty steep 140-foot climb up several stairs and four wooden ladders to gain acces to this literal perch dwelling. But even if that’s not your thing, it’s still worth the jaw-dropping experience of watching others do it, and you can still view this impressive cliff home from a distance.

Main Pueblo Loop Trail

Falls Trail

Full disclosure, I didn’t take the Falls Trail, but I wish I would have because it looks simply beautiful. 1.5 miles in length, it’s one of those trails where you hike down first, descending 400 feet as you make your way toward the falls. It looks like there are some pretty interesting tent rocks you can view here too. I will definitely be back for this one!

If you want to see some absolutely gorgeous tent rock formations, check out the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks which is about a 1 hour and 15-minute drive from Bandelier.

Tsankawi Trail

On the western edge of Bandelier, the 1.6-mile Tsankawi Ruins Trail is a popular trail within the park for spotting native plants and wildlife as well as petroglyphs and artifacts. For a full list of sights along the way, visit this extensive guide on the Tsankawi Trail.

Longer Hikes and Trails at Bandelier

If you’re really looking to explore Bandelier, there are three really great options. You can take the 8-mile one-way Frijoles Canyon Trail through towering rock formations, straight from the Ponderosa Campground. Cross Alamo canyon twice on a challenging 12-mile hike through the Yapashi Pueblo. Or hike 22 miles to see the Painted Cave and its famous ancestral painted drawings.

Best Time to Visit Bandelier National Monument

My personal time to visit most destinations in the American Southwest is Spring and Fall. Winter can be pretty great too, especially if you’re flexible with things like snow.

New Mexico can get pretty hot and dry in the summer months. If this is your only time to visit Bandelier, and I get it because I have kids, then I highly recommend arriving in the early morning before noon to beat the heat on the trail.

If you’re visiting Bandelier in the middle of the day in the summer months, make sure you bring plenty of water, sun hats, and sunscreen as even on a short trail, you might find yourself parched and weak out in the sun. This is especially true if you’re not used to the dry heat and higher elevations at these locations.

How Long to Spend at Bandelier

I’d say that 2-3 hours is plenty of time for the average, non-distance-seeking hiker to experience much of what Bandelier has to offer.

The Main Pueblo Loop takes about an hour to complete on its own, more because you’ll be stopping to marvel at all of the cool things. If you continue on to the Alcove House, I recommend allowing an additional hour for this trek, especially if you’re planning to climb all of the steps and ladders.

Beyond these two popular sites, the Bandelier Visitor Center is well worth spending some time in before you head out on the path through the park.

And if you wanted more hiking that isn’t too time-consuming, I would 100% add in the Falls Trail as it looks truly beautiful.

Santa Fe to Bandelier drive time

Bandelier is about a 50-minute drive from Santa Fe. You’ll also probably catch a glimpse of a massive radio telescope along the way which I assumed was the famous Very Large Array until I learned later it was part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Los Alamos. Neat! From Taos, plan on at least 1.5 hours to make it to Bandelier.

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