Frey Trail

Junction Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 17

~0 min drive

At this point, you may turn right to continue on to Long House and Alcove House or turn left to return to the Visitor Center for a shorter walk.

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…

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…

Orchard Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 18

~0 min drive

The trees below you are what is left of a historic orchard. When Evelyn Frey, her husband, and son arrived in 1925 to run the park’s first concession they brought dozens of fruit trees with them.

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…

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…

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…

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…

Entering Tyuonyi Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 7

~0 min drive

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 vil…

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…