Gila Cliff Dwellings, a US National Monument, and camping in the Gila National Forest, NM

February 28-29, 2016

Getting to the Gila Cliff Dwellings takes a special effort.  This is not a destination you just happen to drop into on your way somewhere else.  Gila Cliff Dwellings are 45 miles North of Silver City, NM (no big deal right?).  BUT, the drive takes at least two hours, as you wind your way through the Mimbres and Mogollon mountains, which are actually the Southernmost part of the Rockies.  The snow-dusted peaks reach 9,000' to 10,000'.... thankfully, the road does not go to the top!

The Gila Cliff dwellings were built in the late 1200s and were inhabited by the Mogollon people between approximately 1270 and 1300.  They built their dwellings inside caves on cliffs about 200' high, which had been used by people for thousands of years, as evidenced by some old rock paintings.  For their building materials, they used rock, mortar and timbers, dated to have been cut between 1276 to 1287.  The Mogollon made their living by hunting, gathering and farming.  Their crops were what are known as the three sisters:  Beans, corn (little corn cobs are still found on the site almost daily!) and squash.

The Mogollon left the area by 1300. The reason for their departure from the area after such a short time is not definitely known.  However, it is believed that a drought was largely responsible. 

 Approximately 40 rooms were built inside seven caves.  The Mogollon cliff dwellers left behind evidence of ideas and artifacts from other cultures:  macaw feathers from South America and T-shaped doorways used by other indigenous groups (see below).

Small corn husks left behind 700 years ago!

Access to the caves is via a mile-long hiking trail and, in order to get inside or come out of one of the caves, one can use a steep ladder!

 Back down from the trail, and about a half-mile along the nearby river is another small dwelling, also built by the Mogollon....the story behind this one is unknown...but it is of the same era as the higher cliff dwellings.

At the Visitors center, one can view several artifacts which were found at the site.  My favourite was a small bone frog.

 Also at the Visitors center was the story of a pioneering ecologist, Aldo Leopold.  Among his writings from the early 1930s are words which resonate today.

There are two "campgrounds" at the Cliff Dwellings Monument, essentially parking lots with pit toilets.  The good news is that they are free!!!  This is one's reward for making the drive, I guess.  We spent one night at the "Upper Scorpion" campground, only a five minute walk form the trail head to the dwellings.   Our second night in the area was spent in the Gila Forest, by a river, at another free campground.  We were alone and enjoyed a campfire on the eve of our 33rd anniversary.