This ancestral home of Santa Clara Pueblo supported 1,500 people from 1100 to 1580 A.D. An original Fred Harvey House built on site in the early 1900s to accommodate guests exploring the American Southwest will once again accommodate guests with a museum and cultural center. It is the only Harvey House on a Native American reservation.

"Puye Cliffs was closed as a result of the Cerro Grande fire that impacted access to the area," said Lucretia Jenkins-Williams, Puye Operations Manager for the Santa Clara Development Corporation. "We have created a destination where people can experience the beautiful panoramic scenery of northern New Mexico, while learning of the ancient Pueblo people who called Puye Cliffs home."

Carved into the volcanic tuff of the panoramic Puye Cliffs, alcoves were fronted with natural rock to create hundreds of homes and storage rooms for the population. Above the cliffs are the remains of many more rooms and circular, underground religious structures called kivas.

Puye Cliffs will offer enchantment and education in one location, giving visitors a unique insight into the significance of the Pueblo's ancestral home while celebrating one of the tribe's modern successes. Tours of Puye Cliffs are managed by the Pueblo's own Santa Clara Development Corporation.

"Tours of the Puye Cliffs will give New Mexicans and their visitors a genuine cultural experience," said Michael Cerletti, Secretary of the New Mexico Tourism Department. "There is no better way to discover the beauty, enthusiasm and tradition of the pueblos than through the people that have inhabited those lands for generations."

May 13th festivities

To mark the reopening (which begins at 10 am) there will be speeches, Indian dances, pottery demonstrations, and free guided tours. The public is welcome. Tour admission is $25 per person in a group of 10 or more. The tour lasts approximately 2 and 1/2 hours. Pottery making, dancing, and other culturally educational demonstrations may be arranged as well for additional fees.

Tour Details:

Gateway Pass: The tour starts at the Puye Cliffs Welcome Center, five miles South of Espanola on Los Alamos Hwy. 30. A gateway pass is required for all vehicles and must be posted on the dashboard of each vehicle so the tribal rangers know who is visiting Puye Cliffs.

Puye Cliffs Scenic Byway: Groups will drive themselves in individual vehicles or a bus along the seven mile State designated Puye Cliffs Scenic Byway. Signs will direct visitors to the Puye Cliffs Visitor Center entrance and bus parking.

Tour Orientation: Puye Cliffs' staff will conduct the welcoming presentation which will explain tribal etiquette, location of amenities, tour guide introductions and answer any questions before the tour begins.

Tours begin: There are three separate segments of each tour:
1. Tour of the Puye Cliffs Interpretive Center: The group will tour the newly renovated interpretive center in the Harvey House (30-45 minutes).

2. Cliff Face tour of Puye Cliffs: The group will walk up to the Cliff face with a tour guide that will give a tribal perspective of Puye Cliffs (45-60 minutes).

3. Puye Cliff Ruins: The group will board buses to the top of Puye Cliffs for a guided tour of the ruins atop Puye Cliffs (45-60 minutes).

Tour ends: The group will be driven back to the Harvey House.

For more information
Contact Lucretia Jenkins-Williams, Puye Operations Manager, 505-747-2455 or visit PuyeCliffs .