Only one national monument protects this ancient culture — and it’s tucked in southwestern New Mexico

They’re deep in America’s first wilderness

Deep in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, five caves hold the remains of homes built over 700 years ago.

The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is the only site in the entire National Park System that protects Mogollon cultural sites, and you can walk right through the rooms where families once lived, cooked, and stored food.

Getting here takes two hours on winding mountain roads from the nearest town. Your cell signal drops out along the way, and that’s part of the point.

Forty rooms built across five caves in the canyon

Between the late 1270s and about 1300, the Mogollon people built roughly 40 rooms inside natural cliff alcoves high above the canyon floor.

They used local stone set in mud mortar, fitting their walls into the curves of the rock.

The Mogollon combined hunting and gathering with farming, and about 10 to 15 families lived in the dwellings at any one time. One generation after building these rooms, they moved on and left the stone walls behind.

Corn, elk and pottery along the Gila River

The Mogollon farmed squash, corn and beans on mesa tops and along the banks of the West Fork of the Gila River.

They hunted mule deer, elk, beaver, ducks and turkeys, and gathered berries and nuts from the surrounding forest. They also made pottery, brown bowls with black interiors and black-on-white decorated vessels.

Items found at the site reveal a trade network that stretched across the Southwest, connecting the Mogollon to other communities and cultures.

Walk inside the rooms on your own

The Cliff Dwellings Trail is a one-mile loop that takes about an hour.

You follow Cliff Dweller Canyon, cross several footbridges over a stream, and climb about 180 feet to the caves above the canyon floor.

This is one of the few ancient cliff dwelling sites in the country where you can walk inside the rooms without a guide.

More than 40 percent of the walls still have their original plaster, and every wooden beam you see is original.

A quarter-mile trail to ancient pictographs

Most visitors skip the Trail to the Past, but it only takes a few minutes and starts right at Lower Scorpion Campground. The quarter-mile path leads to a smaller alcove dwelling and a large pictograph panel.

The Mogollon painted the figures using ground hematite, an iron ore, and the images show human and animal forms. The small cliff dwelling nearby is believed to have been home to the artists who created the rock art.

The trail works for visitors with limited mobility.

Mogollon pottery and Apache history at the visitor center

Start your visit at the Gila Visitor Center, where a small museum displays Mogollon artifacts pulled from the cliff dwellings and surrounding area.

You’ll find handmade pottery, stone tools, and jewelry crafted by Zuni, Apache, Hopi and other regional tribes.

A separate exhibit focuses on the Chiricahua Apache, who consider the Gila Wilderness part of their ancestral homeland.

A short film walks you through what daily life may have looked like for the people who built these rooms.

Aldo Leopold fought to keep this land roadless

The monument sits at the edge of the Gila Wilderness, which became the world’s first designated wilderness area on June 3, 1924.

Conservationist Aldo Leopold, then a Forest Service employee in New Mexico, pushed to keep the Gila free from roads and development. Today the wilderness covers 559,688 acres of canyons, mountain peaks and river valleys.

No motorized or mechanized vehicles are allowed. The only way in is by foot or horseback, the same way the Mogollon traveled it.

Soak in hot springs that don’t smell like sulfur

Volcanic activity deep underground heats several natural hot springs in the Gila area, and the water here is known as “sweet” because it lacks the sulfur and salt smell you get at most hot springs.

Lightfeather Hot Spring sits about three-quarters of a mile from the visitor center along the Middle Fork Trail.

Jordan Hot Spring requires a seven-mile hike each way through Little Bear Canyon with multiple river crossings.

Turkey Creek Hot Springs is the most remote, an 8.3-mile round trip through some of the roughest terrain in the Gila.

Black bears, rare hawks and Mexican wolves

The land around the monument shifts from desert scrub to high-altitude pine forest, and the wildlife follows. You might spot mule deer, elk, black bears, white-nosed coati and ringtails.

Over 300 bird species have been recorded here, including the common black hawk, southwestern willow flycatcher and several species of hummingbirds.

The Gila River and its tributaries hold trout, bass and catfish.

Critically endangered Mexican wolves were reintroduced to the wilderness, and several packs now hold territory in the area.

3.3 million acres and 1,600 miles of trail

The Gila National Forest surrounding the monument spans 3.3 million acres, making it one of the largest national forests in the lower 48 states.

Over 1,600 miles of non-motorized trails cut through it for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. Nearly 250 miles of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail pass through the forest.

Two scenic byways cross the land: the Geronimo Trail National Scenic Byway and the Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway.

Free campgrounds near the monument, including Upper and Lower Scorpion, are first-come, first-served.

Two hours of winding road from Silver City

The monument sits 44 miles north of Silver City, New Mexico, but the mountain roads along NM Highway 15 mean the drive takes about two hours.

You’ll pass through ponderosa pine forests, steep canyons and long views of the mountains. Cell service drops out once you leave Silver City.

If you’re pulling a trailer or driving something bigger, take NM Highway 35 through the Mimbres Valley instead. It’s longer but less winding.

Silver City itself has art galleries, local shops, and the Western New Mexico University Museum, which holds a notable collection of Mimbres pottery.

Pack water, food and a full tank of gas

The Cliff Dwellings Trail opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m. outside of summer, with extended hours from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

You’ll climb uneven stone stairs and gain about 180 feet in elevation, so wear sturdy shoes. No pets are allowed on the trail.

Services out here are extremely limited, so bring plenty of water, food and fuel before you leave Silver City. Check the official website for current conditions before you make the drive.

Explore the Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico

If you want to stand inside rooms that Mogollon families built over 700 years ago, head to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument at the end of NM Highway 15, about 44 miles north of Silver City, New Mexico.

The monument is open year-round, and there is no entrance fee.

The visitor center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with seasonal changes, so check the official website before you go for the latest hours and trail conditions.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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