Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
35 miles South of Santa Fe
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Clear, 94°
“If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it.”
In Pueblo Cochiti just southwest of Santa Fe lies a pretty interesting place to visit called Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument Sign
This scenic area was designated for protection of its unique geologic landscapes, cultural, and biological features of interest in 2001. Tent Rocks is known for its light-colored, cone-shaped tent rock formations and covers an area of 4,645 acres. They are the result of explosive volcanic eruptions that occurred between 6 and 7 million years ago.
Rock Formations on hike in
The road in to get to the parking area has many slight dips in it so water from flash flooding can easily cross the road without doing any damage. The trail system is pretty straight forward. There are two trails; the Cave loop is 1.2 miles long and is easy to navigate and moderate in difficulty.
Canyon Walls
The other is the Slot Canyon trail and is 1.5 miles long, has about 630 feet of elevation gain (on top of the 6,600’ ASL elevation) as you trek up a narrow canyon through rising winding turns while navigating the rocks, boulders, and a fallen tree or two on the trail.
Tree with massive root system above ground
It is not for the faint of heart as you climb to the top of the mesa for breathtaking views of the canyon and surrounding area.
Narrow Path ways to go through
There is also a Veterans’ Memorial Overlook 3.5 miles past the main parking area that is open seasonally and offers a one mile ADA loop trail which also has stunning views of the Peralta and Jemez Mountain peaks.
View of Hoodoo's from the top
Bring plenty of drinking water as it will wear you out making the climb up the trails and then working your way back down again. The vertical walls tower above you with many interesting rock and tree formations that cling to the sides of the canyon walls.
Tree to climb under on way to top
The trail meanders through an arroyo with beautiful old trees dotting the landscape here and there, as the canyon walls rise up above you on either side.
Blue skies smiling at me!
You'll soon come to a narrowing of the trail where it twists and turns through the narrow slot canyon.
Giant Boulder that you crawl under
On this hike the day was bright and clear, but be very mindful of thunderstorms when hiking in monsoon season (mid-June to mid-September) and do not hike if there is any danger of flash flooding in the slot canyon.
Narrow trail with pretty colors
It would be hard to navigate when water is flowing downhill. Near the end of the slot canyon the area will open up more and you'll get closer to some massive hoodoos.
Hoodoos Looking down Canyon
The trail starts to climb from here and after a short walk, you reach the mesa top that is dotted with gnarled old juniper trees. The view of the mesa is breathtaking and worth the climb up.