Slot Canyon Tent Rocks New Mexico

Posted By admin On 24/03/22

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, Cochiti Pueblo Picture: Slot Canyon Trail - Check out Tripadvisor members' 2,136 candid photos and videos. I went on a hike at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico. This video was captured with my GoPro Hero3 video camera in a first person view. The Bureau of Land Management calls Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument a “remarkable outdoor laboratory” but we like to think of it more as a stunning recreational and geological observatory. Tent Rocks is known for water sculpted sandstone hoodoos (also called tent rocks), which are soft cliffsides that have been eroded by years of weather to form thin cone like spires and slot canyons that look like stretched taffy.

Slot Canyon Trail

The 1.5 mile (one-way) Slot Canyon Trail is rather more interesting, one of the best short trails in the state. This branches off the Cave route and joins a stony wash that soon narrows to a proper slot canyon through the tuff. The ravine has curvy walls just a few feet apart but many feet deep, long, shady passageways through generally smooth rocks containing embedded pebbles, and just a few obstructions caused by dryfalls and chokestones; the maximum height is about three feet. The pretty slot opens out quite suddenly after a quarter of a mile, to a still narrow gorge that contains a few tall trees growing in the streambed, after which the canyon ascends more steeply, through another brief narrow part then climbs even more sharply to the top of the plateau, where it splits into several paths that lead to viewpoints looking out over the Tent Rock formations, down Peralta Canyon and across to the far away Sangre de Cristo and Jemez Mountains. The total elevation gain is 640 feet. The plateau is more sparsely vegetated than the valley floor, bearing grasses, wildflowers and manzanita bushes. The most spectacular rocks are all around the last part of the trail, where they rise up to 90 feet, pure white, smoothly tapering and altogether very impressive. The path is popular, and despite the above average difficulty, most people manage to get to the end.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
Location	Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States
Nearest city	Cochiti Pueblo, NM
Coordinates	35°39′37″N106°24′30″W / 35.66028°N 106.40833°WCoordinates: 35°39′37″N106°24′30″W / 35.66028°N 106.40833°W
Area	5,402 acres (21.86 km²)^[1]
Established	January 17, 2001
Governing body	U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Website	Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

A narrow section of the slot canyon

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located approximately 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, near Cochiti Pueblo. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), it was established as a U.S. National Monument by President Bill Clinton in January 2001. Kasha-Katuwe means 'white cliffs' in the Pueblo language Keresan.^[2] The monument is a unit of the BLM's National Conservation Lands.

Geology[edit]

Kasha-Katuwe is located on the Pajarito Plateau between 5700 and 6400 feet (1737–1951 m) above sea level. The area owes its remarkable geology to layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by pyroclastic flow from eruptions within the volcanic field of the Jemez Mountains that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago. These rock layers are assigned to the Peralta Tuff. Many of the layers are light in color, which is the origin of the monument's Keresan name. Over time, weathering and erosion of these layers has created slot canyons and tent rocks. The tent rocks are composed of soft pumice and tuff. Most of the tent rocks have a distinctly conical shape and some retain their caprocks of harder stone. The tent rocks vary in height from a few feet to 90 feet (27 m).^[2]

Recreational activities[edit]

The BLM maintains hiking trails as well as parking and restrooms at the site. The Slot Canyon trail is a one-way trail covering 1.5 miles (2.4 km) through a slot canyon and up a climb of 630 feet (190 m) to a lookout point where the tent rocks may be viewed from above. The Cave Loop trail is approximately 1.2 miles (1.9 km) and leads past the base of the cliffs, near some of the tent rocks and a small cavate similar to those found at the nearby Bandelier National Monument. The Veterans' Memorial Scenic Overlook, dedicated in 2004, includes a 1 mile (1.6 km) loop trail and views of Peralta Canyon and the Jemez Mountains. The overlook is located at the end of a gravel road approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of the tent rocks and may not be accessible depending on road and weather conditions.

The monument is open for day use only and may be closed by order of the Cochiti Pueblo Tribal Governor. Considerations for hiking include the possibility of flash flooding in the slot canyons and the high altitude of the monument. The monument is closed to dogs.^[2]

In popular culture[edit]

The science fiction television series Earth 2 filmed scenes at the monument.

References[edit]