Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

In the high desert of north-central New Mexico, a 40-minute drive west of Santa Fe, a surreal landscape of eroded volcanic rock formations emerges. Towering hoodoos—cone-shaped spires reaching up to 90 feet tall—rise from the earth, sculpted from layers of ash, pumice, and tuff. Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, whose name translates to “white cliffs” in the Keresan language of the Cochiti Pueblo people, is a testament to nature’s raw power and artistry. A winding trail snakes through narrow slot canyons, up to a mesa overlook for sweeping panoramic views of hoodoos that stretch across the horizon, flanked by the majestic peaks of the Sangre de Cristo, Jemez, and Sandia Mountains. Below, fragrant ponderosa pines, cottonwoods, and flowering manzanita shrubs soften the rugged terrain. After a four-year closure—first due to the pandemic, then to address over-visitation and resource protection—Kasha-Katuwe has reopened with new measures to safeguard this fragile and sacred landscape for future generations. Visitors now need timed-entry reservations (bookable via Recreation.gov) and a Cochiti Pueblo Tribal Access Pass, which can be purchased online at Purple Pass, as part of a co-stewardship agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the eponymous tribe.