DISCOVERING BANDELIER

Access to the visitor's center is by shuttle bus only

We had the opportunity to visit one of the National Park Service's oldest sites (1916), Bandelier National Monument.  We walked the 1.2 mile loop in Frijoles Canyon and saw the remains of the small carved rooms (cavates) of the Pueblo people.  We've seen cliff dwellings before but the day was sunny and the walk up stairs and ladders was invigorating.

Bandelier is located on 23,000 acres of designated wilderness and has over 70 miles of trails.  We only had time for the loop because we wanted to include in our day trip a visit to Los Alamos and the Bradbury Science Museum.

This little guy was down in one of the Ancestral Pueblo people's cisterns

Actually he was one of the longest snakes I've seen

Remains of ancient Pueblo homes

Climbing up to one of the cavates

They built homes in a natural recess in the cliff face

The 1.2 mile loop was fun

The rooms were nice and cool

It was a full day but we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Admission is  free and the museum provides information into the history of the institution, it's national security, mission and technology research.  The two 16-minute films tell the stories of the race to build the first atomic bomb the Manhattan Project and the work the Lab does today

One of the many beautiful views while driving to Los Alamos

Thanks for stopping in.