Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

 

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Paul L.

Canoga Park, CA

10/24/2008 3 photos

I'm a devotee of cliff dwellings and I've seen most of the known locations in the country, but Gila Cliff Dwellings was the first dwelling that I ever saw because I had heard so much about it as I grew up.

Many cliff dwellings, such as Mesa Verde in Colorado, are overrun with the fanny-pack crowds who are often more interested in spending time at the gift shops.  Getting to the Gila Cliff Dwellings means a scenic 44-mile northerly drive on Route 15's twisty roads from Silver City that probably keeps less energetic folks away.  Once you reach the small parking lot after your steering wheel workout, you'll see a small wood framed building staffed by friendly volunteers.  Sign in, get your simple map and take the pleasant walk over the water's steel pedestrian bridge and through a tree-filled path up to the dwellings.  

I've been here on a hot summer day, a breezy fall day, and a snowy Christmas day, so I don't think there's a bad time to visit the dwellings (unless roads are closed because of flooding and you can't get here at all).

Others can write about the history of the place, but, to me, two things are important:  you might be fortunate enough to be the only visitor there -- if so, lucky you; and, you can actually climb into the dwellings -- there are no barriers that keep you at a distance.  That combination has an immediacy that can play with your psyche.

On my last visit, as I looked out at the mountains from inside the dwellings, a volunteer, stationed there to make sure that visitors don't get stupid, said, "You know, we invent our reality."   Standing nearly alone in such a quiet place that is over 700 years old, you can start to lose sense of what reality really is.

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Elite '09

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DJ M.

Feasterville-Trevose, PA

8/28/2008

The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse into the homes and lives of the Mogollon people who lived in this area over 700 years ago.  which were occupied for a period of about 20 years, were abandoned by the Mogollan for unknown reasons. Lying on the edge of the Gila Wilderness, the archaeologists say that the homes of this ancient culture are likely very similar to what they were like when they were actually occupied. The dwellings were excavated and carved into the mountainous regions creating varied and interesting homes, which show impressive and adept building skills.

Prehistoric North American Indian peoples who lived mainly in the region of the Mogollan Mountains in New Mexico (hence their tribal name) between the late 1200's into the 1300's.

This is a must see, if given the chance.

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