Tsankawi unit to close mid-March to late-October for construction project
Bandelier National Monument’s Tsankawi unit will be closed to the public from mid-March through late October for construction of a new parking area and access road to the site.
Located near the junction of N.M. 4 and East Jemez Road outside of White Rock, the Tsankawi section of Bandelier is about 12 miles from the main portion of the park. It features a 1½-mile trail that takes hikers along a mesa past cavate cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and the unexcavated ancestral Pueblo village of Tsankawi that was inhabited in the 1400s and 1500s.
The project will involve constructing a new parking area and access road for the Tsankawi unit that will align with the traffic light at the intersection, according to a news release the park announced last week.
“This project will address safety concerns for visitors accessing the Tsankawi unit,” Bandelier Superintendent Patrick Suddath said in the release. “When the project is complete, visitors will no longer have to park along the highway shoulder or cross moving traffic when entering or exiting the site.”
The construction will impact all existing parking for Tsankawi and there will be no safe parking or access points, meaning there will be no public access during the duration of the construction project.
During the construction project, the park will also work on changes to Tsankawi’s trail system.
“We will use the opportunity of this closure to reroute the Tsankawi Loop Trail around the ancestral Pueblo site, and to mitigate the many social trails and other impacts to the area that have been years in the making,” Suddath said. “This site is very important to our tribal partners, and so it is vital that we fully honor our commitment to address impacts to the site during this time.”
Entering Tsankawi by any means will be prohibited during the duration of the project, the release stated, and violators of the closure will be subject to citation or arrest.