Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Cochiti Pueblo. Every other National Monument that I have visited has been managed by the National Park Service.

It is located about 35 miles from Santa Fe, NM. The main feature of the monument is the geological formations of tent rocks and tee pees. There is evidence that ancient peoples inhabited one of the caves in the tent rocks.
Along one of the trails, there are large Ponderosa pines. Did you know that the bark of Ponderosa pines smells like vanilla? Well, it does.

The hiking trails offer wonderful views of tent rocks. These rocks appear to have caps on the top of them. The caps are made of harder rock than the supporting spires which have been worn away by wind and water.

You can see the various layers of different rocks in each of the tents.
This tent rock reminded me of an enormous mushroom.
The second geological feature of this monument is the tee pee mounds. These are fumaroles that do not have caps. I walked a couple of miles on the trails and enjoyed the solitude of the area. I was amazed at the number of birds flying around. I saw several mountain chickadees, hundreds of juncos, Stellar jays, wild turkeys, and thousands of American robins. What enjoyable companions along my way.

On the way back to Cochiti Lake campground I took a shot of the sites. My rig is on the far right. This is interesting terrain in New Mexico.

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy