On our final day in New Mexico, Shae, Truffles and I headed up to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.
It was a bit of a trek from where we were staying in Deming, NM as it was a 2 hour drive. The fastest route had us going via City of Rocks State Park, but another option was to add 15-30 minutes to our journey and go via Silver City. We’d already driven through Silver City on our way to and from Catwalk Recreation Area and Mogollon Ghost Town, so we decided to take the faster route.
The final 20 miles leading up to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is a somewhat winding journey, but you get some beautiful views from up there.
After what felt like ages in the car, we finally made it to the National Monument.
We stopped off first at the visitor center, but it was closed due to COVID (we visited in April 2021).
We therefore headed a couple of hundred yards back up the road we’d driven in on, over the bridge and then turned right on to NM-15. About 1.5 miles further we came to the end of the road which ends at the parking lot for the cliff dwellings.
There’s a Trailhead Museum which was closed as well, although there were some employees outside providing information, leaflets, instructions, etc.
We arrived at 1pm, so we decided to have lunch before heading up to the cliff dwellings. There’s a picnic area on site with several tables which is next to the West Fork Gila River.
Seeing as we knew we had a 4-4.5 hour round trip on top of however long we’d be at the cliff dwellings, we weren’t too keen on leaving Truffles back at the hotel for that long. We therefore brought her along with us even though Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument isn’t pet-friendly per se.
Dogs aren’t allowed on the trail up to the cliff dwellings, but they do have some kennels next to the picnic area where you can leave your dog while you go off and explore. They had three smaller kennels and two larger ones; the small ones were already taken when we arrived, so Truffles waited patiently for us in a larger kennel despite not needing one that size.
One thing to be aware of is that it seems like a lot of people visiting Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument bring their dogs with them. You might therefore need to wait until people return and pick their dogs up before there’s space in the kennels. It wasn’t particularly busy the day we visited but the kennels were full by the time we returned from visiting the cliff dwellings.
Although the kennels aren’t at all fancy, they’ve been placed beneath a bridge. That ensures the dogs have some shade which would be much needed during summer in New Mexico.
With Truffles taken care of, Shae and I set off on the trail up towards Gila Cliff Dwellings.
The Gila Cliff Dwellings Trail is a 1.1 loop trail. It’s a relatively easy trail that I was able to do in flip-flops, but be aware that it’s mostly uphill on the way up to the cliff dwellings. If you need a breather, there are some benches along the way.
About halfway up there’s a quick offshoot to the right where you can take a photo of the cliff dwellings from a distance.
From there you continue heading uphill and then along the cliff wall until you see the cliff dwellings.
Gila Cliff Dwellings were built in the 1280s for the most part, although it’s thought that the caves they were built in were used for shelter much earlier than that.
Similar to Bandelier National Monument, there were soot-covered ceilings in the cave. This isn’t only a result of fires used for heat and cooking; it was done to help strengthen the ceiling as it hardened the rock and reduced the likelihood that it would crumble.
Building their homes in this location had its benefits. The Gila River was below as a water source, being up high helped ensure safety and the enclosed nature of the area helped protect their homes from the elements, staying cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Here’s a panoramic video of the area to give you a better sense of the location.
The trail continues along the cliff wall to another set of dwellings.
To help preserve the dwellings, it’s no longer possible to walk around inside them, although you can see inside a couple of them. Update: It looks like the restrictions on walking around the dwellings is COVID-related rather than an issue with preservation. That hopefully means that in the future you’ll be able to explore the site even more.
Here’s another video which gives a better idea of what it all looks like.
Seeing as it’s no longer possible to explore inside the ruins themselves, it didn’t take too long to see everything from the outside, so we continued along the trail which looped back down to the parking lot. With the cliff dwellings being high up, there are more nice views on the way down.
Final Thoughts
We were glad to have a chance to check out Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, but I’ll admit – we were a little underwhelmed. I’m sure that for most people the cliff dwellings would be more impressive than we found them, but that’s because we’d been spoiled by our two months in New Mexico.
We’d visited Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Bandelier National Monument, Tsankawi Prehistoric Sites and Pecos National Historical Park during our time in New Mexico, all of which feature Ancestral Puebloan homes and/or cliff dwellings. Considering Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument was a 4-4.5 hour round trip drive from Deming, it didn’t feel as worth the visit for us considering we’d been lucky enough to have all those other experiences.
We’re obviously in a unique position, so like I said – I’m sure for most people the cliff dwellings would seem far more impressive, especially if you’re staying somewhere like Silver City which is closer to the site than where we were staying and so wouldn’t have such a long drive. If and when it becomes possible to walk around the ruins (assuming that this becomes possible post-COVID), that would make the site even more interesting – we’d have enjoyed our visit even more if that had been possible.
If you’re wanting to visit cliff dwellings or other Ancestral Puebloan homes in New Mexico and you have flexibility with where you’ll be staying, I’d recommend prioritizing Chaco Culture National Historical Park or Bandelier National Monument. If you’ll be staying in southwest New Mexico though, Gila Cliff Dwellings give a good taste of what New Mexico has to offer when it comes to its historical dwellings.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Ticket Prices
If you decide to visit the cliff dwellings, good news – it’s free to visit! The dog kennels are also free if you’re traveling with your pup.
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