Frijoles Creek cuts a deep canyon through the Pajarito Plateau. Eventually the water empties into the Rio Grande. In the canyon, you will find Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico.
Even today, floods caused by heavy downpours bring the force of water through the canyon, causing much damage.
Reminders of the floods are everywhere as you walk along trails on both sides of the creek. Great trees and their limbs are left in piles by the floods.
The Visitor Center is the best place to begin your visit. In warmer months, you are required to ride a shuttle bus from Los Alamos, where you can leave your car. Cooler months open the road and parking lot in the canyon for you to drive up on your own.
Ancestral Puebloans migrated south from the Four Corners Region and lived in the area from the year 1150 to the 1500s. Over 3000 archeological sites have been recorded; you will find many ruins in the canyon, including a great dwelling viewable from a higher trail.
The canyon cliff sides provided an ideal place to carve out dwellings in the soft ash-based stone originating from the nearby Valles Caldera.
Some carved cave dwellings were accessed using wooden ladders. You can climb to view these indentations in the canyon wall, climbing in the same manner as the original residents.
The best times to visit this magnificent historical and natural area are in the spring and fall, but the park is open year round. Many trails exist with varying levels of difficulty. The park is well worth a visit of at least a few hours, and there is enough to do here for an entire day.
Photographer David Cooper travels across the Southwest and Western states, exploring the beautiful, unique, and little-known spots along the way. His adventures have carried him to Tent Rocks and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, the unusual Tinkertown Museum along the Turquoise Trail, a Viking Castle at Lake Tahoe, and Bryce Canyon In Utah.
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