5/13/25: Gila Cliff Dwellers National Monument & City of Rocks St. Pk.

After exploring Silver City and the small community of Pinos Altos in southwestern New Mexico, Steven and I drove along the romantically named Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway, an unusual driving circuit that runs north to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, then through a pine forest, past lakes, and over the Continental Divide. Steven was not thrilled that the posted speed limit was just 15 miles per hour for most of the thirty-five-mile trip to the monument, due to the twists and turns along the winding road! We hoped that the Gila Monument would be well worth the trek, as there was one road in and out.

I don't recall a single sign on the entire drive escaping target practice!

I learned in the Visitor Center that the Gila (pronounced "heela") Cliff Dwellings comprise approximately 40 rooms in a series of naturally formed caves constructed by the ancient Puebloan people during the Mogollon era, around 1280 AD. Archaeologists are still hoping to determine why the cliff dwellings were abandoned in the 1300s, sometime before the Apaches entered the Gila region from the north. 

The structure outside the Visitor Center indicated that Geronimo, a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people, was "born at the headwaters of the Gila" in 1829.

The national monument was established in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt to protect the prehistoric material culture of the Mogollon people and other groups that inhabited the site. The first scientific description of a pueblo ruin on the upper Gila River was written in 1874 by Henry Wetherbee Henshaw of the Wheeler Geographical Surveys of the Territories of the United States West of the 100th Meridian. 

I'm sure you're aware by now of my fondness for murals. However, I sure didn't expect to see one in the outhouse before the trail to the Cliff Dwellings began!

A volunteer ranger at the trailhead advised us that the trail comprised 600 stairs and a 180-foot elevation gain over its mile-long loop. She also stated that no food, gum, or flavored water could be brought on the trail. The latter stipulations were unusual and seemed excessive. Even so, we looked forward to seeing the dwellings, as 80 percent of the walls were original. 

This was our first sighting of the caves in the remote and rugged landscape at Gila. Even though they were described as less impressive than those we'd viewed several days ago at Bandolier National Monument, or those at Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico we are hoping to explore next April, the big destination on the Trail of the Mountain Spirits is the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and that was enough motivation for us to drive out from Silver City. 

Spotting the rattlesnake sign was all the incentive we needed to stay on the trail!

I don't recall seeing a sign on a trail for a Photo View. Have you?

There were more caves on the opposite side of the cliff.

Steven and I were extremely fortunate that Andre, a volunteer ranger, was sitting on a stool by the first set of caves as we approached and was more than happy to share his wealth of knowledge with us. He mentioned that he volunteers typically in four-hour shifts, five days a week, as he loves the area.

Andre informed us that, with the area's moderate climate and access to water in the stream below the cliffs, it was an ideal place for the Mogollon people to call home. The caves were likely first occupied by nomadic inhabitants in 10,000 BC. He declared that miners had discovered the cave system in the 1870s and that a cavalry unit might have been in the area with their regiment hunting the Apaches, both different stories from the one I'd read earlier in the Visitor Center. 

This was a combined cave storage area and living area, which archaeologists believe was enclosed for privacy and protection from the elements. The firepits were used for cooking the three sisters, otherwise known as corn, squash, and beans. He surmised that the people eventually left the area because they used up all the available resources.  

Andre pointed out the T-shaped doorway, which would likely have been used as an entrance for everyone, as well as for transporting large items. The small hole in the second photo would have been a private entrance. 

When Andre led us to the second cave, he mentioned it wasn't open to visitors as it wasn't stabilized at the back.

In the third cave, we climbed a ladder to peer inside what would have been a ceremonial area, as it was plastered, indicating it was a special space. 

Construction of the first five caves in the Cliff Dwellers Canyon began in 1276. It coincided with the onset of a prolonged drought that lasted for twenty-four years, according to tree-ring dating. All the caves faced south because that was where the shade was in the summer. There was regular interaction among tribes and people from as far away as the Pacific Coast. The T-shaped doorway has been found in one dwelling within the Hopi culture, indicating that exchanges of ideas, as well as trade, took place. 

Gila's cliff dwellings were typically home to between 40 and 60 people, with some rooms reserved for sleeping, storage, and communal use from 1276 to 1281. The cliffs fell silent in the early 1300s, for reasons still unknown to archaeologists. 

Another ceremonial area would have been this vast space under the blackened ceiling, where dances would have taken place. 

Andre wondered whether the graffiti might have been left by members of the regiment, including their regimental number, as they searched for the Apaches. 

Scientists have ascertained that the Mogollon people must have been relatively short based on the height of the posts holding the ceiling in place. 

A design or mural etched on the wall had faded considerably since it was painted so many hundreds of years ago. Some modern Puebloan people who claim cultural affiliation with the Mogollon interpret similar designs as symbols of rain or clouds. Might it have been part of a plea to end the drought that swept the Southwest from 1276 to 1300?

I wondered who had created the graffiti that was visible on another wall. 

I had to smile when Andre described this area in the middle as 'stadium seating,' because it didn't compare to what I thought of when I heard that term. Beyond it was the "second neighborhood."

The catwalk was constructed by the National Park Service to enable visitors to walk between the caves. 

When we took turns looking at what was below the "ladder," Andre mentioned that they were 750-year-old corncobs!

I was equally enthralled by the views of both the interior and exterior from this location. 

Steven and I knew by this point in our exploration of the caves that the views from another ladder were of another ceremonial room, because it had also been plastered. 

The hearth was in the corner.

There were more pictographs beyond the next wall. One was possibly of a snake, perhaps from the Snake Clan, according to Andre.

Andre said three distinct groups of Mogollon people occupied the caves, and they were in the Cliff Dwellers Canyon because they felt safer in a group setting. 

Andre described the cliff across the ravine as having 'Montana benches,' which were designed for one or two plants to be cultivated, so that the cave dwellers wouldn't have to go far to grow plants. The guide believed boomerangs were used to catch rabbits.

Archaeologists have found no signs of violence among the cave dwellers. 

Professionals have determined that the smooth stone below the doorway in the above photo was used to place pelts for curing. DNA analysis was able to pinpoint that the pelts came from deer, as indicated by their urine and brains.

One of my least favorite activities was descending the ladder, but that was the only way down to the trail unless we wanted to return the long way we had come.

Although the Mogollon families abandoned the cave dwellings in the early 1300s, and their culture is now extinct, their story lives on through their descendants, who are still present. The cliff dwellings are revered places for the Zuni people, as the Cliff Dwellers were their ancestors. Modern Pueblo people trace their ancestry to the Mogollon through shared traditions, pottery designs, and beliefs. According to a Zuni elder, "Our ancestors are still alive. They did not go anywhere. They did not disappear. We're still here."

An OMG view from the Gila Wilderness Overlook:

About two hours away, north of the city of Deming in southwestern New Mexico, was the highly unusual City of Rocks State Park, which might look like a metropolis as envisioned by Dr. Seuss. Hardened lava, eroded over 35 million years, has formed a skyline of towering pinnacles and bulbous growths. 

Nine of the park's fifty campsites had electric and water hookups. Some were named after astrological signs, which was a new experience for us. 

Shortly after leaving the park en route to Las Cruces, our home away from home for the next ten days, we both received Alerts on our phones from the National Weather Service, advising us of a Dust Storm Warning with Zero Visibility. I admit to feeling some trepidation on hearing that everyone was warned to "Pull Aside or Stay Inside (i.e., a house)." 

Though the mountains in the background were all but obscured by dust, we plowed on toward Las Cruces. Luckily, we arrived safe and sound, although the situation was hairy at dusk. 

Next post: Playing tourists in Las Cruces - that means visiting the mammoth Recycled Roadrunner, the world's largest chili, and other fun sights!

Posted on June 3rd, 2025, from our home in Denver on what would have been my parents' 79th anniversary of the day they wed in Bedford, England. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones, be kind and curious!