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New Mexico
184 ft
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Why you'll love it
Welcome Tyuonyi Overlook Trail Stop 1
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No permit or access details on file for this trail — check with the local land manager before you go.
Welcome to the Tyuonyi (QU-weh-nee) Overlook Trail, which is partially a loop and partly an out-and-back, 2.2 miles roundtrip. You are approximately 0.25 miles down this trail that passes through the Piñon-Juniper Woodland and provides excellent views of Frijoles Canyon, the Pueblo Loop Trail, and the park visitor center. In summer, watch for thunderstorms that can develop very quickly over the mountains posing a threat to unwary hikers.<br /> <br /> From 1150 – 1550 CE the Ancestral Pueblo people called this area home doing much of their farming here on the dry mesas using creative water saving techniques to survive in this arid landscape. The area and the sites you will see still hold deep spiritual and cultural connections to today’s Pueblo peoples. Please treat these sites with the respect they deserve. <p> </p>
Alcove House Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 22
~0 min drive
Many find climbing the 140 feet of ladders and stone stairs at Alcove House to be one of the highlights of their visit. Do you think you would have felt differently if you had to climb into this housing area multiple times every day, carrying food, water, and small children? W…
Native Plants Tyuonyi Overlook Trail Stop 3
~1 min drive
The Ancestral Pueblo people had an agricultural-based society and relied heavily on the crops they could produce, storing as much as possible in times of plenty for the years when a dry season produced scarcer harvests. During those times, knowledge of native plants was essent…
Fire Tyuonyi Overlook Trail Stop 4
~1 min drive
Fire has always been a part of life in the Bandelier area and fires likely burned this area many times while the Ancestral Pueblo people lived here. From studying tree rings scientists know that the natural fire cycle here was a low intensity fire every fifteen years or so. In…
Petroglyphs Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 21
~1 min drive
Petroglyphs (carved drawings) are far more common than pictographs (painted drawings) at Bandelier. Do you see the carving of a macaw under the overhang? How about the one of an elk to the left of the macaw?<br /> <br /> The people of Frijoles Canyon lived, worked, laughed, an…
Rock Drawings Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 20
~1 min drive
Also look for numerous petroglyphs (carved rock drawings) as you stroll past Long House. There are hundreds of them in this location. There is also a pictograph (painted drawing) under glass. Once upon a time this pictograph was covered with plaster. It was uncovered during ea…
Long House Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 19
~1 min drive
For the next hundred yards you will be walking past Long House. Look for the base layers of rocks that served as the bottom of walls. Today these look-like outlines of stone boxes but once they would have stood several stories high. Take a closer look at the cliff wall behind…
Orchard Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 18
~1 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.
Junction Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 17
~1 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.
Frey Trail
~1 min drive
The Frey Trail is a historic trail that travels from the park visitor center in Frijoles Canyon up onto the mesa and Juniper Family Campground. Distance one way is 2 miles and approximately 550 feet elevation change. Lots of great vistas and closeup encounters with the Piñon-…
Frey Trail Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 16
~1 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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