Oct 11 2009
Puye Cliffs, ancestral home to the Santa Clara Pueblo people in New Mexico is once again open to the public. It is an important and unique cultural site because it is managed and interpreted by the Santa Clara people themselves.Puye Tours will take you to the site as well as to describe Puye life from an authentic perspective. The tours, called Puye Journeys, can be found at www.puyecliffs.org. Tickets can be purchased at the Puye Cliffs Welcome Center at the Valero gas station off of Highway 30.
Puye Cliff and other cultural sites on the Pajarito Plateau were settled between 900 -1100 AD by early Pueblo people who migrated from the Four Corners region. Puye was the largest of the settlements, with a population of up to 1,500 people. It consists of cliff dwellings, a Great House on the mesa top, and a Harvey House constructed in the 1930s which serves as an interpretive center. Puye was occupied until 1580, when present-day Santa Clara Pueblo was established in the valley below.
Puye Cliffs is located on the Santa Clara Pueblo Indian Reservation west of Espanola, New Mexico. Turn west at the intersection of NM State Road 30 and Santa Clara Canyon Road, also know as the Puye Cliffs Scenic Byway. Puye Cliffs is located seven miles west on Santa Clara Canyon Road.
