A Hike with Some Height
This hike was more like a stroll than a hike, but at the end there are four ladders to climb to get to the site. Along the way, we saw sites though the trees where you could see the paint (or more likely smoke stains) on the walls from a structure that no longer stood as well as structures tucked inside the cliff. If you click on the picture below, you can see an enlarged version.
The site is a large area inset into the cliff with a reconstructed kiva. At this site, you can go inside the kiva. In the kiva you can see the holes where the loom used to go. I liked that because it said to me this was a woman's place. It has such a beautiful view and I am sure the people who used to live here looked out at the beauty and appreciated it, too.
The hike round trip was a short walk, and the only difficulty would be fear of heights because of the ladders. They ask that you be quiet in the area to respect the place, i.e. whisper, as the acoustics are pretty impressive! If you visit Bandelier, this hike is worth including on your trip because of the kiva at the end. The trail also has signs telling about the nature and plants in the area which were interesting as well, thus we believe the hike is really a nature trail. If you are afraid of hikes you can still walk out to the site and view it from the base of the cliff.