Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

[Roy_Lynne]

DH walks with a walker. Is it worth the drive to go to Gila. Can it be seen from visitors center?

[fanrgs]

Roy&Lynne wrote:
Thanks for the info fanrgs. Hovenweep is a great idea. I understand there is dry camping there also.

Yes, no hookups, but drinking water and flush toilets at the nearby visitor's center.

And just northeast of there at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is the Lowry Pueblo. You can drive right up to it and, with a short walk, be inside the ruins. We were the only vehicle there the day we stopped while on our way from the Anasazi Heritage Museum to Hovenweep.

[Roy_Lynne]

Thanks for the info fanrgs. Hovenweep is a great idea. I understand there is dry camping there also.

[fanrgs]

Roy&Lynne wrote:
Mesa Verde was on our list of places to go for sure, but I understand its also not particularly handicapped accessible, but at least we can see the ruins from certain vantage points Chaco is definitely on our list, but that dirt road sort of freaks me out and Aztec for sure. Thanks so much.

You can view some of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde from the rim without hiking down the cliff and there are some pit house ruins on top of the mesa that you can easily access. So, don't let the lack of accessibility stop you from going there--it's spectacular. Maybe give them a call and find out if they have any special provisions for accessing more sites.

Besides the Anasazi Museum in Dolores (10 miles from the new Mesa Verde Visitor's Center), you can easily drive from Mesa Verde over to the nearby Utah border to visit Hovenweep National Monument. There the ruins are around the edge of a small valley and the trail is generally fairly gentle.

Chaco is one of my favorite national parks, so I took my car club there two years ago as part of a week-long northern New Mexico tour. Of course, I nearly hit a bull elk standing in the middle of the road at the park entrance when leaving that night to go back to our motel in Farmington. But that just added a little extra excitement to a very memorable park visit!

And, yes, a short section of the Chaco NP road through the Navajo Reservation is very bad, but survivable! You just have to take it very slow on the rough section, going and coming. However, most of that long access road is a very good gravel county road and, inside the park, it is even asphalt-paved.

[Roy_Lynne]

fanrgs wrote:
There are also wonderful, non-cliff dwelling Anasazi ruins in New Mexico. The best are Chaco Culture NP and Aztec Ruins NM, both near Farmington. You can drive right to each of those ruins and use level walkways to get up close.

And,if you go to the Mesa Verde NP area, you can spend hours at the Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores, CO. There you can see more Anasazi artifacts up close (as in, through a microscope!), than you can at any of the national parks or monuments. And, they even have Anasazi ruins right behind the museum building that you can walk to.

Mesa Verde was on our list of places to go for sure, but I understand its also not particularly handicapped accessible, but at least we can see the ruins from certain vantage points Chaco is definitely on our list, but that dirt road sort of freaks me out and Aztec for sure. Thanks so much.

[Roy_Lynne]

micpib1 wrote:
You might consider Montezuma's Castle as another Cliff Dwelling Site. Easy access via paved walkway, visitors center nearby, we really enjoyed our visit. We stayed at the Distant Drums RV Park near a Casino if I recall, loved the park, enjoyed the area. JH

Thanks for the suggestion. We might just do that.

[Retired_JSO]

While not totally accessible, the ones outside Colorado Springs are more visible than Gila

https://www.cliffdwellingsmuseum.com/

[Busskipper]

fanrgs wrote:
There are also wonderful, non-cliff dwelling Anasazi ruins in New Mexico. The best are Chaco Culture NP and Aztec Ruins NM, both near Farmington. You can drive right to each of those ruins and use level walkways to get up close.

And,if you go to the Mesa Verde NP area, you can spend hours at the Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores, CO. There you can see more Anasazi artifacts up close (as in, through a microscope!), than you can at any of the national parks or monuments. And, they even have Anasazi ruins right behind the museum building that you can walk to.

^^ - Think this might just be what you are searching for, Good Info - ^^

[fanrgs]

There are also wonderful, non-cliff dwelling Anasazi ruins in New Mexico. The best are Chaco Culture NP and Aztec Ruins NM, both near Farmington. You can drive right to each of those ruins and use level walkways to get up close.

And,if you go to the Mesa Verde NP area, you can spend hours at the Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores, CO. There you can see more Anasazi artifacts up close (as in, through a microscope!), than you can at any of the national parks or monuments. And, they even have Anasazi ruins right behind the museum building that you can walk to.

[micpib1]

You might consider Montezuma's Castle as another Cliff Dwelling Site. Easy access via paved walkway, visitors center nearby, we really enjoyed our visit. We stayed at the Distant Drums RV Park near a Casino if I recall, loved the park, enjoyed the area. JH

[Second_Chance]

In my opinion, the Gila Cliff Dwellings are very much worth it - but your wife won't make it up the trail.

Rob

[Roy_Lynne]

Thanks That is what I expected. I read that the trail wasn't wheelchair accessible, but thought you might be able to see if from the parking area. Appreciate your help.

[fanrgs]

Not really. It is a very small group of cliff dwellings and you need to climb the trail to see them. It is also a VERY long drive to get there and the road doesn't have a lot of other sites of interest along it. You might want to call the Visitor's Center there to see if they have any other way to get you up the hill.