Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
There’s evidence that humans once inhabited this rough land of cliffs and canyons more than 11,000 years ago, but its remarkable structures were built by Ancestral Puebloans around AD 1150. The Los Alamos site is home to the ruin remains of stone walls, petroglyphs, and buildings expertly cut into sheer rock faces.
A system of ladders and stone steps provides access to Alcove House, a dizzying clifftop site that was once home to dozens of Ancestral Puebloans. The park has an extensive network of hiking trails that weave through the forest connecting different villages. You can find a visitor center with exhibits of pottery and tools used by the Native inhabitants here.
