Puye Cliff Dwellings, Native American archaeological complex in Santa Clara Canyon, New Mexico
Puye Cliff Dwellings is an archaeological site where rooms were carved directly into soft volcanic cliff walls, stretching for over a mile along Santa Clara Canyon with the rock face rising more than 200 feet high. The dwellings span two distinct levels cut into the stone.
This settlement took shape in the late 1200s and was inhabited for several centuries before being abandoned around 1580 when drought conditions forced residents to move toward the Rio Grande valley. The site marks one chapter in the long history of Pueblo peoples in the region.
The Tewa people, whose descendants live at nearby Santa Clara Pueblo today, regard these cliff homes as the ancestral foundation of their identity and continue to honor them as sacred ground. The place remains deeply woven into their sense of who they are.
The site is best explored on foot using walking trails that vary in difficulty and bring visitors close to the cliff dwellings and carved rooms. The cooler months offer more comfortable conditions for walking around the exposed rock face.
The entire site contains approximately 740 individual rooms carved at various heights into the soft volcanic stone formation at different levels. A striking feature includes twelve ancient stairways and ladders integrated directly into the cliff face to allow passage between the upper and lower dwelling areas.
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