Wednesday
March 14, 2012
Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos, New Mexico
All notes in red are from the National Park Service website.
- Pecos Pueblo and other pueblo ruins
- Spanish mission
- Santa Fe Trail sites, including Kozlowski's stage stop
- 20th century ranch history (Forked Lightning Ranch)
- Sites of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass: Pigeon's Ranch, Camp Lewis, Cañoncito and Apache Canyon
This National Monument was just a few miles
away from the Santa Fe KOA,
so I decided to stop by on my way to Colorado.
The park rangers loan you a plastic coated guide book
to take along on the self guided 1.5 mile walk.
The guide book has detailed information about each stop along the trail.
From September through May, rangers offer three guided tours each week to share insights into the rich crossroads of history and culture at Pecos National Historical Park.
Fridays-1:30 PM: Arrowhead Ruin-On this 90-minute ranger-led tour, see a 14th-century pueblo with 105 rooms and one kiva. The hike takes you off-trail through woodland in a higher altitude life zone than what you experience near the Visitor Center.
Saturdays-1:30 PM: Civil War in the West-Accompany a ranger on a two-hour van tour of locations relevant to the Battle of Glorieta Pass; you'll see Kozlowski's stage stop, Camp Lewis, Apache Canyon, Canoncito and Pigeon's Ranch, and learn about the fierce fighting that took place between Colorado and New Mexico Volunteers against the Texas Volunteers.
Sundays-1:30 PM: Forked Lightning Ranch House-Begin at Kozlowski's Santa Fe Trail stage stop and then see the bluff overlooking the confluence of the Glorieta Creek and Pecos River where Tex Austin, "Daddy of the Rodeo," hired architect John Gaw Meem to build a house. Completed in 1926, this structure later became the summer home of Pecos National Historical Park benefactors E.E. "Buddy" Fogelson and his wife, Academy Award-winning actress Greer Garson.
Reservations are required for the guided tours
I was there on the wrong day,
I would have liked to go on one of the guided tours.
You don't have to go down that ladder, do you?
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting place to tour both self and with a Ranger. Assume the "scary" ladder to ducks leads into a kiva.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was going to ask... you go down that ladder? I mean you go into caves and such...
ReplyDeleteWell! I never... I had to google kiva... I didn't know that! learn something new ever day!
Nice pictures, Teri ;)