Aztec Ruins National Monument

Aztec Ruins provides visitors an intimate opportunity to explore the ancient Puebloan “great house” known as West Ruin. A self-guided, 1/2 mile walk winds through rooms built centuries ago. Along the way, discover skillful stone masonry, remarkably well-preserved wood roofing and original mortar in some walls. At the trail's end, visitors enter the Great Kiva. This awesome semi-subterranean structure, over 40 feet in diameter, was the central social and religious site of this ancient complex. Now reconstructed, Aztec Ruins' Great Kiva is the oldest and largest building of its kind.

Construction of the Aztec settlements began in the late 11th century, had two distinct phases separated by many decades of inactivity and ended around 1300 as the residents moved away, probably to neighboring areas such as the pueblos of the Rio Grande valley and the present day Hopi and Navajo reservations in Arizona, a relocation thought to be due either to drought or loss of fertility of the surrounding lands. The village became ruined, slowly covered by the desert sands and remained unvisited until the mid nineteenth century - the first known rediscovery was in 1859. Years of sporadic looting and several archaeological expeditions followed and not until 1923 did the ruins receive full protection when the national monument was established. The site is still considered sacred by many Southwestern tribes.

The museum at the Visitor's Center features a variety of ancient artifacts excavated at or related to Aztec Ruins. Take time to watch “Hisatsinom,” a 25-minute video about the pre-Columbian history of the Four Corners region.

Aztec Ruins National Monument
110 N. Ash
Aztec, NM 87410
Phone (505) 334-9551
www.nps.gov/azru/