If I Were Going...: Southwest Excursion -- Gila Cliff Dwellings

As I prepared to go home, I headed for Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. It is located in the Gila Wilderness on the headwaters of the Gila River in southwest New Mexico -- not a place you would happen upon. You have to being going there to get there.

Cliff Dwelling

The park was established in 1907 to protect the remains of a Mimbres Culture community. It features interlinked dwellings within five cliff alcoves above Cliff Dweller Canyon. I am a big fan of cliff dwellings (in their natural locale, not transplanted like the ones in Colorado Springs). So, I have visited many in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. This was a nice, but small, one.

A wall under the arch

The Mogollon (pronounced MUG–EE-AHN) Peoples built the Gila Cliff dwellings some time between 1275 and the early 14th century. It is believed they lived in the cliff dwelling for only 30 years or so.

A large dwelling

Archaeologists have identified 46 rooms in the five caves on Cliff Dweller Canyon, and believed they were occupied by 10 to 15 families.

Nice view

No one knows why the people migrated to this area, but they were probably driven there by drought and they may have left because of worsening drought or invasion.

The dwellings are in a canyon

... near the Gila River ...

The river provided water for the people living there

It’s a 45-mile drive from Silver City, New Mexico, up SR 15, a winding, but well-maintained road to the park. I had decided to hit it on my way home because it looked like the drive would take awhile and driving back south just didn't make sense. It was a good plan.

A curvy drive

I wouldn't recommend taking a large vehicle on 15. It is better to come in on 35 from the east with a trailer or RV. That's the drive I took out. The drive in on 15, which took about 90 minutes, was very pretty and, on the day I went, traffic free.

Butte

After I arrived, I went to the Visitor Center. To reach the ruins, I then drove about a mile and a half to another area ...

This way

.... and hiked a mile-long loop trail with several footbridges over a stream ...

The walk

The day was warm, as evidenced by this turkey vulture cooling himself across the canyon.

Was he or watching us?

You can walk through the ruins by yourself or go on a tour with a ranger. I started by myself, but quickly caught up with a tour. I learned and saw things I wouldn't have had I not stuck around to listen to the ranger.

Ruins

Local Native Americans were aware of the location of ruins, but when white men found the spot, they trashed the ruins so severely that artifacts were difficult to catalog. In the early 1900s, the Act for the Preservation of Antiquities, commonly known as the Antiquities Act, set aside land that contained prehistoric and historic ruins by executive order. So, the destruction was ended.

A big archway

Although the dwellings are built in the Mogollon style, they have a T-shaped doorway, which was an ancient Pueblo convention. The Mogollon people were known for frequent contact with other tribes and it is believed they copied this design element from another group.

Distinctive door

The ruins are in excellent condition, due to the dry climate.

Inside

There are some cave drawings on some of the walls that you have to crane your neck to see (I wouldn't have seen them unless the ranger had pointed them out).