Aztec Ruins National Monument

Contact Information:
Aztec Ruins National Monument
84 County Road 2900
Aztec, NM 87410
505-334-6174
http://www.nps.gov/azru/

Size: 318 acres

Visitation: 41,331 (2003)

Location: Aztec Ruins National Monument is located on Ruins Road about 3/4 mile north of US 516, just outside the town of Aztec, New Mexico.

Description: Ruins of this large 12th-century Pueblo Indian community have been partially excavated. Contrary to the name, these structures were not built by the Aztecs of central Mexico, but centuries earlier.

Activities: A 25 minute orientation video program is shown throughout the day in the visitor center. A self guided interpretive trail about 1/2 mile long winds through the West Ruins, a pueblo of 450 interconnected rooms built of stone and mud. Visitors walk through rooms with original roofs and a reconstructed Great Kiva -- a partially underground structure once used for community-wide activities. The trail is easy trail, but there are some stairs and low doorways. Rangers occasionally give talks during summer months. A children's junior ranger program is available.

Operating Hours: Daily, Memorial Day through Labor Day, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; rest of the year, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed January 1, Thanksgiving Day, December 25.

History: Aztec Ruins National Monument was proclaimed on January 24, 1923. 

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