Cerro Grande and Tsankawi in Bandelier

I asked Ken Cowles about some hikes that Ken and I could co-lead together since he has done a tremendous number of hikes (see his website at nmhikes.com). The first of these will be a 4.5 mile hike to Cerro Grande peak that he says has a great overlook of Valles Caldera, an area I have wanted to add to my hiking list. Since we will be in Bandelier, we will also do an interesting short 1.6 mile hike with Petroglyphs and cave dwellings in Tsankawi, which is in a separate part of Bandalier from the main site we have been to before. This trail does have a couple ladders.

Please bring a hat, sunscreen, plenty of water and food for snacks and lunch since we will be out most of the day. Hiking poles may be useful for Cerro Grande. Dogs are not allowed in Bandelier, so no dogs on this one. We will meet in the west end of the Home Depot in Rio Rancho by the sheds.

From Home Depot, it is about an hour and 20 minutes through Jemez Springs to Cerro Grande. The quickest way back to Home Depot from Tsankawi will be to loop over to Santa Fe. It will be about three hours of total driving time.

If there are some who just want to do Cerro Grande, we can work that out when we set up carpools. If anyone wants to stop at Gabriel’s for fresh made Guacamole and Mexican food on the way home, we can work that out as well.

For Cerro Grande you can go to Ken’s site or here is the AllTrails version: Cerro Grande Route on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-mexico/cerro-grande-trail?sh=qcnrni&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

For Tsankawi here is the AllTrails: Tsankawi Village Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-mexico/tsankawi-village-trail?sh=qcnrni&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality