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New Mexico
184 ft
Gain
No conditions check on file for this trail yet — always verify current conditions before you go.
Why you'll love it
Entering Tyuonyi Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 7
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No permit or access details on file for this trail — check with the local land manager before you go.
You are now standing in the central plaza of the village. Can you hear the dogs barking and the laughter of children playing or chasing the domesticated turkeys? This would have been a very active and noisy place during Ancestral Pueblo times. One theory suggests that this village has a defensive structure because during the summer the young healthy adults spent much of their time farming and living in field houses (small stone structures) on the mesas. The older adults, young children, and turkeys would have been living here in the village. Imagine how much easier it would be for the adults to supervise the children and the livestock with a single entrance to this plaza, the one you entered through.
In Tyuonyi Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 8
~0 min drive
The kiva you see in front of you served the same purpose as Big Kiva that you saw earlier on this walk. It too would have had a hard plastered roof with an entrance in and a ladder in the middle. <br /> <br /> Tyuonyi, as with many of the archeological sites along the Pueblo L…
Exiting Tyuonyi Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 9
~0 min drive
Notice the small slope and abundant plant life as the trail exits Tyuonyi. This is what the entire village would have looked like before excavations. Looking at the cliff ahead of you, you can see at least one of three ladders you will be able to climb to see the inside of a c…
Garden Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 5
~0 min drive
Evidence of the first people in this area dates back to over 11,000 years. Stone spear points have been found but early hunter-gatherers moved across the landscape and didn’t build many permanent structures. As these early people traveled following game animals they collected…
First Cavate Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 11
~0 min drive
You have arrived at the first of three ladders you can climb into cavates (CAVE-eights), human excavated openings. Although sometimes used for housing, the main purpose of cavates was often food storage. Remember the Ancestral Pueblo people lived here for over 400 years and th…
Talus House Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 12
~0 min drive
This is Talus House, reconstructed in 1920 to show the structures that would have been found in front of many of the cavates when the Ancestral Pueblo people were still occupying the canyon. For many years park staff believed the reconstruction was inaccurate due to what appea…
Frijoles Canyon Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 13
~0 min drive
Stop and look out over the canyon. Does it look lush, and green compared to the mesa above it? As we discussed earlier this is a riparian area that has greater diversity of plants and wildlife than other nearby areas. Although much farming was done on the surrounding mesas som…
Soft Rock Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 10
~0 min drive
The cliff in front of you has numerous holes, some big and some small. These holes are created by wind and water erosion of the volcanic tuff we talked about earlier. Water freezes and thaws in the permeable rock breaking off big and small pieces (most are microscopic). Wind p…
Cavate Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 14
~0 min drive
Have you notice anything different about the cavates you have entered by climbing ladders? They all have concrete floors. Without the concrete to protect them from our footwear, the natural cavate floors would have been worn deeply by our entering these significant features. R…
Cave Kiva Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 15
~0 min drive
This is Cave Kiva. Unlike the other cavates you could climb into, this one is a kiva. Do you remember earlier on this walk when you saw Big Kiva? This cavate was used for the same purpose as Big Kiva. Unfortunately, this kiva cavate must be smoked and replastered regularly to…
Frey Trail Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 16
~0 min drive
The dirt trail to your right is the Frey Trail, named after an early concessionaire in the park. If you follow this trail, it will switchback its way out of the canyon, gaining approximately 500 feet in the climb. There are excellent views back into the canyon as the trail asc…
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