Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

National Monument Designated 2001, Managed By The Bureau Of Land Management In Partnership With The Pueblo De Cochiti, Which Owns The Access Road; Cone Shaped Hoodoos Weathered Out Of Volcanic Tuff From The Jemez Eruptions · Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico

Tent Rocks is a field of cone-shaped hoodoos on the Pajarito Plateau, weathered out of pumice and tuff laid down by the Jemez eruptions six or seven million years ago. Each cone is soft ash protected by a harder caprock that acts as an umbrella, so the column survives while everything around it erodes away, and when the cap finally falls the cone goes with it. The Slot Canyon Trail runs up a narrow crack between walls a few feet apart and climbs 630 feet to a ridge looking down over the whole field, with the Sangre de Cristo, the Jemez and the Sandias all visible from the top. Kasha-Katuwe means white cliffs in Keresan, and the land belongs to the Pueblo de Cochiti, which owns the access road and now controls who comes in. That is the thing to understand before planning a trip: this is a national monument you cannot simply drive to. It closed in 2020, reopened under a reservation system the pueblo runs, and the arrangement has changed more than once since, so the first thing to do is confirm that it is open at all.

Tribal Route 92, off NM Highway 22, Cochiti Pueblo, Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico, 87083, United States

VERIFY CURRENT STATUS BEFORE TRAVELLING. The monument closed to the public in 2020 and has since reopened under a reservation system administered by the Pueblo de Cochiti, which owns the access road. Entry has been by advance reserved slot on limited days rather than by simply driving in, numbers per day are capped, and the arrangement has changed more than once. When open it is a daylight-hours site with a firm exit time, and it closes entirely for Cochiti ceremonial days, for weather and for road conditions.

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