Shedding Light on the Mogollon Culture

For thousands of years, groups of nomads used the caves above Cliff Dweller Creek as temporary shelter. In the late 1200s, people of the agricultural Mogollon (Southern Ancestral Pueblo) culture made it a home. They built rooms, crafted pottery and raised children in the cliff dwellings for one or two generations. By approximately 1300, the Mogollon had moved on, leaving the walls behind.

View of dwelling rooms at Gila Cliff Dwellings
Plan Your Visit

Getting here is half the fun! Give yourself time to reach the park and enjoy the scenery! Better yet, plan on staying for a few days.

Volunteer on the park trail near the dwellings.
Get Involved - Volunteer

A chance to discover and explore your parks, and share what you know with visitors! Volunteer interpreters make the history come alive.

Visitors look up at an ancient structure at Gila Cliff Dwellings.
Tour the Dwellings

From guided dwellings tours to hiking in the remote wilderness, there are lots of options for all hikers.

A slow sloping hillside dotted with ponderosa pines. A narrow trail passes through the center.
Alpine Forest

Juniper and pines come together to form habitats for countless Gila critters. Experience the forest through the trees.

Three cow elks surrounded by prickly poppies
Animals

Cow elks walking through a patch of prickly poppies.

A Junior Ranger tries out a metate.
Become a Junior Ranger!

Young and old alike can earn their Junior and Senior Ranger badges!

Last updated: August 8, 2023

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

26 Jim Bradford Trail
Mimbres, NM 88049

Phone:

575-536-9461

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