I had an ambicious plan to visit three sites today. First place on the list was Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. I checked out of the motel at 6:30 a.m. with a complimentary 4-ounce cup of coffee and a mini donut. Just about all the guides warn that the road is narrow and to plan about 2 hours to drive the 43 miles to the monument. I should have stopped for breakfast because I left too early. The sign to State Route 15 or Pinos Altos Road is not marked well, especially in the pre-dawn hours, but is easy to find if you know that it starts from US Route 180 next to a McDonalds. Most of the trip is along a good two-lane paved asphalt road. I passed through sleepy Pinos Altos and then a beautiful forested part of Gila National Wilderness. There are parts of the road that become twisty and about 1-½ lanes wide. Honking the horn before entering the blind turns would be a good idea. The road eventually merges with State Route 35 and starts increasing in elevation. There is another stretch section of road north of the3 intersection of Routes 15 and 35 with u-turns that are dangerous as drivers on the outside lane of a curve tend to crowd towards the center of the road.

The road was empty and I made good time. I stopped at an overview area and even slowed down at different points to observe a javalina and a deer cross the road.

I arrived at the Monument and stopped for the obligatory picture of my car in front of the sign, then proceeded the 200 yards to the Visitor Center. The elevation is about 5,700 feet and it was a cool, crisp morning. The Ranger said that it was the first day frost in the area. The Visitor Center has a video presentation and some nice artifacts on display. I was disappointed that the displays did not include two things that I saw at the Silver City Museum but failed to photograph. One was a scale model of the caves and the other was a photograph taken from across the canyon showing tourists walking among the caves. The photograph was taken from a location that was not accessible during the self-guided tour.

Outside the Visitor Center are two plaques. One commemorates Aldo Leopold and the other Geronimo.

A road leads up a canyon, passing 2 horse corrals and 2 campground sites to a parking lot. At the trail head to the cliff dwellings is a payment kiosk ($3.00 per adult) and Nature Center. A volunteer was waiting at the trailhead to give a brief overview and the rules. The round trip is about 1 mile, crossing a metal bridge, following a creek bed, and then a short steep climb to the elevation of the cliff dwellings. Along the way the opposite cliff provides an example of how erosion and collapse of the Gila Conglomerate created the caves.

The Gila Cliff Dwellings consist of 7 caves, 5 containing dwellings. The site reminded me of the geology and ruins I saw at Walnut Canyon National Monument in Arizona.

The ranger at the cliff dwellings pointed out three pictographs made with red/orange colored pigment. One was interpreted to be a human form and the other was thought to be a snake. The third was the faint outline of two hands.

The trail back to the trailhead leads along the cliff face where there is a good exposure of the Gila conglomerate.

I retraced the route back to Silver City. On the way back I encountered a Volvo being winched out of a ditch and came upon a motor home that had difficulties navigating on the narrow road.