Visitor Center and other Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, NM Things to Do Tips

First stop at the Gila Cliff Dwellings should be the Visitor Center, just inside the park entrance and 1.5 miles before you reach the trailhead to the cliff dwellings themselves. There is a short orientation film, maps, information desk and rest rooms. On our trip a light rain was falling and we were glad that the gift shop had inexpensive panchos available, as well as books, souvenirs, etc.

Hours:
Memorial Day - Labor Day: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Remainder of the year: 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Closed Christmas and New Years Day.

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Phone: 505-536-9461
Address: HC 68, Box 100, Silver City, NM 88061
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

From the visitor center the cliff dwellings are a 1.5 mile drive along the West Fork of the Gila River. There you will find a parking lot and a trailhead contact station which may or may not be manned. The self-guiding Gila Cliff Dwellings Trail begins at a self-pay station; admission to the monument is $3.00 per person or $10.00 per family. Pamphlets are available at the trailhead which describe sights along the trail.

A 90 minute ranger-guided tour of the cliff dwellings is also offered beginning at this point twice daily, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., at no additional cost. Although we started out on a self-guided tour, at the top of the trail we caught up with the guide, a retired school teacher, and enjoyed his very knowledgeable and helpful commentary.

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Phone: 505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

The one-mile loop trail leads to and through the cliff dwellings and takes about one hour. The trail begins by crossing the Gila River on this bridge (pictured). The trail is steep in places, and there are drop-offs. Plan to walk slowly, watch your step, and wear substantial shoes with good soles. The round trip takes about one hour.

The unpaved trail is rugged, and on our trip, Dec. 29, there were several patches of very slick ice. Mud can be a problem in warmer weather. The trail climbs 180 feet, including several sets of stairs, and there are no rails. The views of the canyon along the way and from the cliff dwellings are very rewarding.

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Phone: 1-505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

Millions of years ago, volcanic activity formed the cliffs towering above the canyon. Such rugged scenery is typical of the mountainous Gila Wilderness. In the cliffs are several natural caves which protect against wind, rain, lightning cold and heat. It was no doubt for these reasons, and perhaps also for protection, that the Mogollon chose this site to build their homes.

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Phone: 1-505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

About half way up the trail you will make a sharp turn and from there if you look up you will catch your first glimpse of the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Most Mogollon communities built on open, flat terrraces near their fields. Archeologists do not know why this band of 30 to 40 people chose to live in caves. It is speculated that they may have gotten the idea from the Anasazi in the north, who were experienced cliff dwellers and influenced the Mogollon in many ways during this period.

As we climbed steeply upward we thought of the men, women, and children who lived here and made the same climb every day to bring home their water and food.

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Phone: 1-505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

It is believed that the cliff dwellers must have started building soon after they arrived in the late A.D. 1270s. In the first ten years or so, they extended their home through most of the caves and constructed about forty rooms. This cave contains the foundations of three small storage rooms and a hearth. Inside you will see two circular depressions in the floor which were probably used to support round-bottomed storage jars.

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Phone: 1-800-557-8223
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

Above the arched entrance to this cave are roof beams called vigas (Vee-gahs). Their blackened surface suggests how the cliff dwellers used fire to soften the wood before cutting it with their stone axes. When not tending their fields, hunting, or gathering, these Mogollon people centered their daily life in and around the caves. In good weather they performed many tasks on the ledge from which this picture was taken.

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Phone: 1-505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gero

This area was once divided into two large rooms by a wall that ran across the front of the second terrace. The rooms probably served as living spaces. Notice the fireplace to the right side in the picture. The cliff dwellers plastered their walls and leveled their floors with clay and gave each room a hearth.

Macaw feathers from northern Mexico and a bison rib scraper from the eastern plains are some of the items found here which indicate these people traded with other tribes. Most materials used by the cliff dwellers, however, were not acquired by trade, but were made by their skilled hands.

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Phone: 1-505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

In good weather, the Mogollon performed many tasks on the outside ledges in front of their dwellings. We know that these people made cotton cloth, plaited sandals from yucca leaves, wove mats and baskets, painted designs on clay pots and jars, and fashioned jewelry out of shells and feathers.

Making and repairing tools for farming, and hunting was another constant job. Then, of course, there was corn to grind and other foods to prepair. This was a busy place in the thirteenth century, with much work to be done. All the while, the people probably talked and gossiped and kept track of young children playing nearby.

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Phone: 1-505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl

A pictograph, or pictogram, is a figure which is either painted or drawn while a petroglyph is one which is scratched or carved into the surface of a rock. On the walls of the Gila Cliff Dwellings are a small number of pictographs, ancient symbols which are a forerunner to modern writing. It is not known whether the pictographs found here were intended to convey a message, or were merely ancient grafiti.

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Phone: 1-505-536-9461
Website: www.nps.gov/gicl