Puye Cliffs Scenic Byway

Overview

This short byway has a big surprise at the end. Starting out in rolling hills, the route climbs as the Puye Cliffs can be seen in the distance and the Jemez Mountains appear. Pulling into the parking lot of the Puye Cliff Dwellings, a National Historic Landmark, you will have the view of the ruins as early travelers did. Two buildings are at the base of the mesa, both shaped from volcanic blocks found at the site. The mesa-top pueblo is the largest ancestral native settlement on the Pajarito Plateau, once home to 1,500 people.