El Morro National Monument has two trails that end up connecting at the end. I started with the longer Headland Trail first for no reason other than…well, it’s the first sign I saw and just decided to go that way. The trail begins right from the back door of the visitor center. A short paved walkway turns to older pavement and then turns to gravel rapidly but the entire trail is very well-maintained and well-traveled.
I took the route in a clockwise direction which means you start by heading up some stairs to reach the top of the first part of the bluff.
Even if you only go this far the views are spectacular and you should take a look. But let’s continue on as some special views await even further down the way.
The trail becomes a winding composite of being on the exposed rock surface of the bluff, sometimes gravel, and sometimes concrete stairs put in place to make things easier. Off in the far distance you can faintly see the peak for Cerro Alto, the tallest prominence in the southern Chain of Craters and one of the higher peaks in this area of the Zuni Mountain range.
I was surprised to find even more stairs including these wedged in between two taller sections of stone. But yeah, be ready for some stairs!
One final long set of stairs before you reach the top of the cuesta. All told I believe the climb is around 200 feet which isn’t that bad using the staircases. Keep this in mind as you ascend: this is the home of ancient Puebloans who made this climb as a way of life – before the stairs existed.
Then again, the views across the valley are quite exquisite. I believe the main reasons they lived up here were safety and security, but I’d move here if this is what I could see each day.
From here you can also see a good distant view of the cuesta to show both elevation, steepness, and a curious difference in geology. The white stone covering the top of the ridge is called the “bleached zone” which has been discolored by ground water.
A’ts’ina Pueblo
The most significant part of the monument is Atsinna (A’ts’ina), a partially excavated ancient pueblo that was inhabited from 1275 to 1400 CE by ancestors of today’s Zuni people. Be sure to read the educational signs which are full of history and knowledge.
Be sure to also read and respect the signs about ongoing construction and preservation of the site against further weathering so that future generations can also enjoy it.
Looking down into the pueblo you can see the individual rooms and features which are only partially excavated to help preserve against weather erosion. As per the signs, the “construction” going on is to shore up the walls that were damaged from heavy rains. Only about 18 rooms have been excavated but apparently at the peak there were over 300 rooms and 500 people here.
Maybe the most stunning single feature is the large circular kiva – a place for meetings and worship. This one was quite large, probably 30 feet or more across.
Past the excavations and continuing on the trail you will quickly see the other reasons why this location was so secure. The bluff drops off in the other direction just as steeply but also offers a sheltered and partially wooded area between the rims. Sneaking up on these peoples would have been near impossible. How did they survive up here with so few resources up high? More on that will come a bit later.
Views of the bleached zone from above as the trail starts to cross directly on top of the rocky surface. I was a bit nervous seeing this as I’m not so fond of heights at times but honestly the trail is much easier to cross than it appears (as long as it isn’t wet, don’t do this when it’s wet).
Finding the trail can sometimes be tricky but the best hint I can give is just look for the most foot-worn section and go there (BUT use your eyes and brain before blindly following any path so you don’t fall). As mentioned above when conditions are dry the rock should provide good traction against your rubber-soled shoes even if it looks smooth.
Another perspective on the ravine between the two ridges. It’s amazing really how many trees are growing even on top of the rocky bluff with seemingly no way to survive. Life, uh…finds a way.
Aside from these puffy clouds dropping some misty precipitation across the valley, weather today is amazing. Very fortunate on that front. Did I mention the views are pretty great?
The most amazing tree award goes to this gnarly pinyon pine that is rooted directly into the rock. Over time it has grown at an angle on top of the stones and from erosion actually carved into them. Notice to the left of the remaining tree there used to be a “twin” but that offshoot was either removed or broke away leaving only the carving behind (which is somewhat fitting for this monument).
Another neat feature is this massive chunk of rock that is breaking away from the main bluff and named Woodpecker Arch for it’s resemblance to the bird in it’s shape.
Looking north-northwest across the valley is another huge bluff or plateau with amazing exposed sedimentary layers. I’m not much of a geologist but this one also seems interesting as it is slanted in the sense that it isn’t level with the horizon – maybe with the other volcanic activity in this area’s history there is also volcanic or tectonic influence causing it to be lifted? Not sure, very cool though.
Did I mention the views are pretty gosh darn decent? I could stay up here all day just staring off into the distance. That rain is getting closer though…
As the trail winds around the edge of the rim most of the trail remains very well maintained gravel.
From the far side you’ll also get one last glimpse down into the ravine between the rims. This reveals not only a pair of stone obelisks left standing alone, but also best shows how vertical the cliff walls are. Definitely very safe from anyone scaling those as a surprise attack.
As you begin the descent down the cliff the trail turns to pavement and you’ll find a few cacti and yuccas but still mostly pinyons and other trees. This makes sense as much of the area north of here is either Cibola National Forest. New Mexico always stuns me with how much diversity it has across the entire state.
The descent is fast and steep but thankfully quite easy by the series of switchbacks. I’m glad to have hiked down in this direction as I think going up the same route would be more difficult than the stairs.
As the trail levels out it will definitely feel like you teleported to a different place and now you’re in the woods. Even on a day like today with perfect temperatures it’s much cooler down here and you will feel it.
The trail turns back towards the bluff and continues right along side it as we continue on to the final part of the loop. Will save that for the next post though, stay tuned.
Hiking Data
I’m showing the full loop for the Headland Trail here since it was at this point I made the rookie mistake of having my camera’s memory card fill up and had to go all the way back to my truck for another. So in a way I did complete the loop minus my intended route of the Inscription Trail as the two connect/overlap.
Doing this route is just about 1.75 miles and you can see I wasn’t moving very fast most of the time. Take your time here and enjoy the sights. Imagine what daily life would be like for the ancient Zuni peoples. Great hike and would do it again any day.
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