Know before you go
As with any kind of trip, be sure to be well acquainted with the policies for the places you plan to visit. Including but not limited to – backcountry pass limits, closures, admission prices and standards, hunting and fishing regulations, rules and expectations of visitors before planning a trip.
Valles Caldera National Preserve
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
In New Mexico, about a three-hour drive from Durango, there is a dormant supervolcano that carries a moniker to acknowledge the accomplishment of its creation. The boundary for the Valles Caldera National Preserve largely follows the geological formation for which it is named, spanning a little less than 140 square miles. The Valles Caldera National Preserve includes several smaller valles like Valle Toledo to the northeast, Valle San Antonio to the northwest and the aptly named Valle Grande, which covers almost 5 miles across and about 12 square miles in valley floor area.
While that is certainly not small, when it comes to caldera sizes, it’s relative. World-famous Yellowstone National Park’s Yellowstone Caldera is an active supervolcano in Wyoming. It is described by park officials as covering as much as 1,300 square miles, and is often cited as the largest supervolcano caldera in the United States. Also worth mentioning is Colorado’s La Garita, in the San Juan Volcanic Field. The caldera for La Garita spans about 800 square miles across Hinsdale, Mineral and Saguache Counties.
According to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, the volcanic field responsible for creating the preserve area became active as far back as nearly 14 million years ago.
“The caldera-forming eruption that created today’s landscape occurred 1.23 million years ago, but there have been numerous smaller eruptions since then, forming the volcanic domes within the Valles Caldera,” said Robert R. Parmenter, research scientist at Valles Caldera National Preserve. “The most recent was ‘only’ 69,000 years ago creating Banco Bonito in the southwest portion of the preserve.”
Parmenter said that Banco Bonito is a lava flow bench that formed a series of pressure ridges across the flow area, peppered by “explosion pits” where superheated pockets of steam exploded through the flow from beneath. Drivers traveling on a portion of Highway 4 can also see lava rocks overlying tephra deposits.
The United States Geological Survey lists Valles Caldera the oldest of three caldera-style supervolcanoes in the U.S. While the volcanic field is dormant, it still shows signs of activity and has been given an overall threat score of 60 from the USGS in its 2018 update to the National Volcanic Threat Assessment, high enough for it to consider the volcano a ‘moderate’ threat.
For those who just want to put eyes on the geological formation, Highway 4 goes right along Valle Grande. For those looking for more, the craters are marked by wide-open meadows and streams, which are perfect for nature watching, hunting and fishing. The vast spaces with plenty of visibility are attractive to wildlife like herds of elk, prairie dogs and flocks of Merriam turkeys, a New Mexican subspecies noted for their striking plumage. The location is also home to three endangered species – Jemez Mountains salamander, New Mexico prairie jumping mouse and the Mexico spotted owl. Elk and turkeys are the only animals it is legal to hunt on the preserve.
For those seeking to soak in the views, trails are available to test any skill level, offering treks that take hikers up to the rim as well as all over various formations and to hot spots such as Cowboy Cabin, a historic ranch site and Sulphur Springs, an active hot springs area.
New Mexico already claims some very recognizable rock formations such as Shiprock and the Bisti Badlands. And Valle Caldera offers its own attraction, the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks to the south of the caldera. The Tent Rocks are the result of pumice, ash, and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick being blasted by a downslope pyroclastic flow creating pillar-like structures each capped with “tents.”
According to the National Parks Service, ash-flow tuff to the south of Valles Caldera formed the Pajarito Plateau which was later carved by years of river flow creating a series of runoff canyons.
Among these canyons lies Bandelier National Monument. Bandelier was named for Swiss anthropologist Adolph Bandelier and earned monument status from Woodrow Wilson in 1916. It is famous for its ancient cave dwellings called cavates and bedrock-worn trails. As entrenched areas, protected from the elements with a ready source of water, these canyons were attractive to human settlement. The Ancestral Puebloans took to the location, carving cavates and inhabiting the area from 1150 CE to 1550 CE according to the National Park Service, and remnants of their permanent residences still stand in the area. The location boasts a robust selection of public access trails that take visitors to sites like Alcove House and Tyuonyi. For those looking for guided exploration, there are ranger programs and cultural demonstrations.
All that volcanic activity makes for a wealth of naturally occurring hot springs, like Spence Hot Springs, which is a short walk from its own designated parking area just off the main road in the San Juan National Forest. But Jemez Springs, southwest of Valles Caldera, true to its name capitalized on their natural hot springs and may be the go-to location in the area for a soak, offering spa and bath house accommodations.
The village’s appeal doesn’t end there, priding itself as a Southwest art hub and is well connected to the history. Dating back to as early as the 17th century, the Jemez Historic Site contains both the Mission San Jose de los Jemez as well as the Pueblo of Giusewa.
The film “Oppenheimer” made waves when it hit theaters and the central location for the famous Manhattan Project, Los Alamos, is likely still fresh on everyone’s mind. The town that traces much of its notoriety back to the 1940s is built on an intracanyon area in the ash-flow tuff of the volcano and features visitor areas, historic sites and even Robert Oppenheimer’s former home. There is plenty available to help enthusiasts get better acquainted with this slice of American war history. The town is still home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Those focusing on a spiritual experience can visit the Santuario de Chimayo in its namesake hometown, about 8 miles east of Española. According to the National Park Service, the shrine dates back to 1813 and attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year. It houses a special soil that is purported to have healing properties. The Santuario is also the focus of a tradition that sees pilgrims walk to the location from all over during Holy Week. It was designated a National Landmark in 1970.
The town of ‘Holy Faith’ Santa Fe is within driving distance, about 50 miles from Valles Caldera, is the home of a litany of famous religious sites each with its own story: The San Miguel Chapel is often credited as being the oldest standing church in the continental U.S.; the Loretto Chapel is renowned for the mythical construction of its “miraculous staircase”; the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi stands apart from the rest of the construction in the downtown plaza boasting a distinctive Romanesque Revival building style.
The strong cultural roots of the Southwest cultivated a thriving art scene in the area. Wisconsin-born Southwest Modern artist Georgia O’Keeffe moved to the Southwest, making her home in Santa Fe and allowing the desert to influence her future work. The area still bears her mark with numerous museums covering her life and history as well as sharing her art. Santa Fe is also the first location for Meow Wolf, an immersive art exhibit. The pioneering installation features mind-bending interactive pieces for visitors to get lost in. The success of The House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe has crossed state lines spawning Convergence Station in Denver and Omega Mart in Las Vegas.
sjiron@durangoherald.com
