Paul & Tara Visit the National Parks: Aztec Ruins National Monument

Visited: May 2017

Nearby town: Aztec, NM

In the northwestern corner of New Mexico, you can find the incredible ruins of a village constructed nearly a thousand years ago by the Ancestral Puebloans.

First things first, these ruins were not built by the Aztecs! 😊 Early white settlers in the 19th century mistakenly believed that the Aztecs (the great ancient empire that inhabited the region around present-day Mexico City) must have built these impressive structures. But no, they were built and inhabited by the local Pueblo Indians.

These ruins were preserved by a homesteader and early town founder, H.D. Abrams, who owned the land the ruins sat on. Abrams was an amateur archaeologist and unearthed many of the artifacts that are contained today in the Park Visitor Center and Museum. The National Park Service eventually acquired the land from Abrams, and Aztec Ruins (by this time, the name had stuck) became a National Monument on January 24, 1923.

Aztec Ruins is a relatively small park that can easily be visited and explored in a few hours, and is a great place to pair up with a visit to nearby Mesa Verde National Park (across the border in Colorado). The Ancestral Puebloans built both these ruins and the impressive cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde.

Your first stop should be the Visitor Center. There are lots of artifacts to see and peruse, and a 15-minute film serves as a good introduction to the Monument.

Then take in the views of the entire structure. There are over 400 rooms in this complex. Approximately 300 people lived here year round, and these ruins were inhabited for around 200 years (from 1100 AD - 1300 AD).

Now take the half-mile loop trail that takes you in and around the ruins. The first stop is a reconstructed great kiva. These circular rooms were present in nearly every household and had great spiritual and familial significance to the Pueblos. Some villages, like the one here, also had a large kiva that would hold ceremonies and activities for the entire community.

This structure is reconstructed to look like what it might have back in its heyday in the 12th-14th centuries. You can go inside.

The trail continues through the ruins. This is a very neat place, you get a chance to really get up close and personal with the ruins. You can wander through the ruins to your heart's content.