Rio Grande Nature Center Park and Puye Cliff Dwellings

Two great stops

I just wrote about stops I made in Texas after one of my trips to Colleyville to see Barred Owls. In this post, I am going to cover two great spots in New Mexico (which, based on my experience, really is the Land of Enchantment).

Rio Grande Nature Center Park

A male Bushtit

On our next trip home, we decided to swing into New Mexico where we stayed in Albuquerque and spent an early morning at the very lovely Rio Grande Nature Center Park.

A beautiful Park on the lazy Rio Grande

Located in the bosque -- cottonwood forest -- and by the wetland bordering the Rio Grande River, the park features 270 acres of woods, meadows and farmland flourishing with native grasses, wildflowers, willows and cottonwoods. 

It was too early in the morning to go into the Visitors Center, so we walked around the trails, where we saw a few critters here and there, including some Desert Cottontail Rabbits.

When I think of the Rio Grande, I always think of Big Bend country in Texas, but it is actually prominent feature throughout New Mexico.

The Rio Grande is formed by the joining of several streams in the San Juan Mountains, just east of the Continental Divide, in Colorado. 

Cottontail

From there, the river flows through the San Luis Valley, then south into the Middle Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico, passing through the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos, then toward Española, New Mexico, and picking up additional water from the San Juan-Chama Diversion Project from the Rio Chama. 

The Rio Grande continues on a southerly route through Albuquerque, then on through Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge; Las Cruces, New Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

In the Albuquerque area, the river flows past a number of historic Pueblo villages, including Sandia Pueblo and Isleta Pueblo. Below El Paso, it serves as part of the border between the United States and Mexico.

Despite its name and 1,000-plus-mile length, the Rio Grande is not navigable by large boats or barges; its deepest point is just 60 feet.

Top, Male Wood Duck; Bottom, Canada Goose

The Rio Grande flows for much of its length at high elevation (for example, Albuquerque is at 5,312 feet). In New Mexico, the river flows through the Rio Grande rift from one sediment-filled basin to another, cutting canyons (a good place to see this is Rio Grande del Norte National Monument) and supporting a fragile wooded (bosque) ecosystem on its flood plain.

While Rio Grande Nature Center Park borders the Rio Grande, it’s quite a hike to the actual river and berms keep it from view. Instead, we visited wetlands  and ponds along the flood plain. The ponds were full of Great Blue Herons, Canada Goose, Mallards, Northern Shovelers and Wood Ducks. 

The area near the park was a lovely residential area with some beautiful southwestern homes. It was still a bit early in the year, so most of the trees has not yet leafed out, but there were many signs of spring.

A pretty tree

I photographed the birds, including lots of White-Crowned Sparrows ...

A pretty little bird

 ... and these were my first Bushtits! 

Such cute little birds

Puye Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico

I had always wanted to stop there

Our next stop was a place that I have passed by a few times, but never visited: Puye Cliff Dwellings. I am sorry I didn’t go earlier. It was beautiful.

The path to the ruins

The ruins of an abandoned pueblo, Puye Cliff Dwellings are located in Santa Clara Canyon on Santa Clara Pueblo land near Española, New Mexico. 

Operated by the native community, the site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

Between 900 and 1580, up to 1,500 Pueblo Peoples lived in the area where they hunted game and cultivated food. At first, they lived in dispersed farmsteads on the east side of the Jemez Mountains. 

As their population increased, they lived on the Pajarito Plateau in the larger, concentrated villages of Otowi, Shufinne, Tsankawi, Tsirege, Tyuonyi and, the largest, Puye.

The Puye complex

The Puye complex includes two levels of dwellings on the cliff as well as surface and cave dwellings. One level of cliff dwellings is over 1 mile long and the second is about 2,100 feet long. Much of these ruins and a reconstructed community house were accessed by paths and about twelve stairways and ladders cut into the side of the cliff. You can visit via guided tours – one goes to the top and one goes to both the top and the cliff dwellings. I recommend taking both. You cannot visit the ruins unless you are on a tour.

A commanding presence

You can buy tour tickets at the gas station on U.S. Highway 285 by the turn-off or at the Visitor Center in the park. You reach the Visitor Center via a seven-mile-long scenic highway.

The tour uses a van so you don't have to travel the way the original inhabitants did. After learning about the mesa-top ruins, you can then climb down a steep path and ladder to the Cliff Dwelling. Or, you can take a van back to the bottom and then walk up the trail to the Cliff Dwellings. I climbed; Scott rode. It was a bit scary and very dusty to climb down (and tricky when you are carrying a camera). 

Climbing down

But, then, it was hot to walk up!

On top of the mesa are cave dwellings around which a multi-storied village was built. The south portion of the complex had 173 rooms on the ground floor. The total number of rooms is not known but would include rooms on the northern side of the complex and the upper levels. In the center of the complex was a large plaza. The view of the surrounding mountains is breathtaking. It is easy to see why people settled here.

The ruins

Carved out of soft volcanic tuff on a cliff ridge, the Cliff Dwellings held about 740 rooms and ruins at the base of the cliff that likely held additional units. 

There are a number of very visible petroglyphs on the walls of the Cliff Dwellings. 

Petroglyphs are rock carvings (rock paintings are called pictographs) made by pecking directly on the rock surface using a stone chisel and a hammerstone. When the desert varnish (or patina) on the surface of the rock was chipped off, the lighter rock underneath was exposed, creating the petroglyph. The amazing thing is that these images have existed for hundreds of years.

Petroglyphs

The Spanish people arrived in 1540 and began converting the Puebloans to Catholicism. Part of this was discouraging public participation in many of their traditional Puebloan ceremonial practices. As a consequence, many practices went underground, and much of the image making by the Puebloans decreased. 

About 1580, drought forced the villagers to leave for locations nearer to the Rio Grande River. Present-day inhabitants of Santa Clara Pueblo 10 miles to the east – including our wonderful guide -- are descendants of the Puye inhabitants. 

Looking up

The Puye people spoke the Tewa language, in which "Puye" means “place where the rabbits assemble or meet.” The word "tsirege," which means "little bird," is the basis of the name of the plateau – the Spanish word "pajarito."

In 1680, the Pueblo tribes rose up in revolt of Spanish rule, and drove the settlers out of the area and back to El Paso. 

The ruins

In the late 1800s, the legendary Fred Harvey Company (you may remember that the Harvey Company built many great National Park facilities, including the El Tovar at the Grand Canyon) built one of its depots at Puye to encourage tourism. The Harvey House at Puye Cliffs – now the Visitor Center -- was the only Harvey House built on an Indian reservation.

The Visitor Center

In 1907, Edgar Hewitt, with the Southwest Society of the Archeological Institute of America, excavated Puye Cliffs. It was the first systematic excavation of a prehistoric pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley. He was given permission by the Santa Clara People, whose only stipulation was that he not disturb sacred places or burial grounds. When he disregarded that stipulation, he was denied further access and no additional excavation has taken place.

One of the most interesting thing about the ruins – quite different from any of the other cliff dwellings or ruins I have visited – is the abundance of pottery sherds. 

Sherds

They are everywhere. The Santa Clara People are famous for their beautiful hand-made pottery – an art they have been practicing for centuries. One of their traditions is to offer thanks for the raw materials by smashing used or broken pottery and throwing it to back to the earth. They have also been doing this for centuries.

An amazing amount

There are pieces everywhere – some with very visible decorations. 

This is amazing

There are also pieces of volcanic obsidian (in the center, above), which the Santa Clara used for tools.

Our guide told us that he makes Santa Clara pottery -- a skill he learned from his grandmother and mother -- and that the time-consuming art is very much alive in his community.

We followed our visit with lunch at La Cocina in nearby Española. 

And a great lunch

I had absolutely delicious sopaipilla tacos, which use the pillow-like fried dough as a base, similar to indian fry bread or tortillas. 

The main course was followed by a basket of perfect sopaipillas -- lightly dusted with sugar and served with honey.  

Yum! New Mexicans sure know how to eat.

Trip date: April 2-4, 2018