Bandelier National Monument is actually located in Los Alamos, about 40 miles northwest of Santa Fe, but it is an easy 45 minute drive if you have a car. On the way, you will pass over the Rio Grande, although it obviously doesn’t form part of the border here. You will also pass by the Poeh Cultural Center (worth a stop) and the Pojoacque Supermarket (to pick up any essentials you need on the way).The trip is mostly a straight shot on the highway, but as you get closer to the Main Entrance, the road gets slower and curvier as it winds around the sides of the mountains. At the end of this very windy road, you’ll pass a guardhouse where you’ll need to pay the entrance fee. It’s $25 for standard vehicles, but if you have a National Parks pass you can also use that to enter without an extra charge.There is a Visitor’s Center and “Trading Post” not much beyond, with a cafe and gift shop. There are also campgrounds and picnic areas.
The Trails
The Visitor’s Center is the starting point for the Main Loop Trail, which has two trails that branch off of it—the Frey Trail and the Alcove House Trail. This area consists of archaeological ruins around and along the face of an imposing bluff.I decided to take this Main Loop to see the cliffside archaeological sites. You can see numerous building foundations along this level, paved trail, but then it starts up the side of the cliff and gets a bit harder! There are stairs cut into the cliffside (with railings provided of course), and ladders here and there that allow visitors to enter the kivas (hollowed out rooms in the side of the mountain). Also, the views are amazing!The Main Loop Trail is generally paved and not too hard. However, it does require going up and down a lot of steps. I decided to go partially up the Frey Trail as well to catch the views higher up on the mountain. This trail is not paved and is much steeper! If you’d like to add some difficulty, or just see the views from higher up like I did, I’d recommend taking the Frey Trail.Once you get to the return portion of the Main Loop, it is much flatter and shady as it leads you under a stand of pine trees. The Alcove House Trail also extends off of this return portion of the loop. If you take the Alcove House Trail, you can walk to the bottom of a cliff that leads up to the “Alcove House”.The Alcove House is a hollowed out area inside the mountain, similar to the other kivas, but much larger. To actually get in there, though, you’ll have to go up a couple steep stairways and a few ladders. I decided not to make that trek myself, but I enjoyed the view from the bottom!
My Experience
Imagine how in shape the people who lived here must have had to be, to go up and down these stairs and ladders all day! I could imagine a younger version of myself having no problem with it, and in fact finding it fun, but now it leaves me out of breath. It’s such a shame how modern life converts us from fit little things that run around all day into helpless blobs over time.Even so, I really enjoyed climbing up the mountain and seeing the views. I was also grateful when the trail flattened out and became shady.This was my first real hike this year, so I was pretty out of shape, but honestly the trails here were not bad at all even for a less-than-totally-fit person. Although sometimes steep, the trails were easily walkable and the sights were definitely worth it!The trails I took are all well-traveled and are good for either group or solo hiking. If you’d like more of an off-the-beaten-path experience, there are also a number of other short and longer, less trafficked trails in the park area that you can hike.
Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.
Jack Kerouac
The hike around the Main Loop, including the offshoot trails, didn’t take more than a couple of hours. However, including time traveling back to Santa Fe, I didn’t do much else that day. Especially because I was so pooped out afterward.
The Environment
There seems to be a nice breeze so you are unlikely to get too hot, but you’ll work up enough of a sweat that you won’t need any extra layers.Don’t forget to bring water! This is the desert after all. Water is life. I was hiking at midday and needed a full bottle of water while on the trail.A hat (like this one!) and sunglasses will also help you avoid getting a sun headache.
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