Treasure trove
New Mexico boasts three World Heritage Sites, more than any other state
New Mexico has three World Heritage Sites, a coveted designation from UNESCO, ranking the Land of Enchantment above other states for the number of these cultural and natural treasures.
Of the 23 sites in the country, Taos Pueblo, Chaco Culture National Historic Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park represent some of the state’s most iconic natural and cultural resources.
“We tend to forget how abundant treasures in New Mexico are,” says Tourism Secretary Rebecca Latham. “It’s wonderful to have these World Heritage Sites in different categories. It tells the story of New Mexico as a place. It showcases that we’re a state of adventure steeped in culture.”
The state’s sites share the spotlight with awe-inspiring places that read like an updated version of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
In the United States, World Heritage Sites include Yellowstone National Park, Redwood National and State Parks in California, the Statue of Liberty and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, while sites around the world include the Taj Mahal in India, the Pyramids in Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef near Australia and the Great Wall of China, to name a few.
Members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially created the World Heritage Sites list in 1975 and since then have identified 1,052 landmarks with cultural, historic, scientific or other significance to protect and preserve for their value to all humanity.
Living community
Ilona Spruce, tourism director at Taos Pueblo, says the World Heritage Site designation has enhanced the pueblo’s efforts to preserve its authenticity in a 21st-century environment. “We’re a living community, not relics of the past, so we all have to maintain our culture to keep it alive and well.”
According to the World Heritage Site website, Taos Pueblo, likely constructed about A.D. 1325, with roots that stretch back beyond A.D. 1000, was cited for “the significance of its traditional Native American living culture.”
Not only the people, but also the adobe building and living quarters, it says.
Spruce says opening the pueblo to visitors gives Taos Pueblo residents an opportunity to tell the real story of the pueblo.
She recommends visitors take a tour and engage one of the pueblo’s college students to share their perspective. The college students volunteer during their off-school time to earn tips from the tours. “It’s part of our public education process to share our story. We get to facilitate how our story is told. We encourage the student guides to bring in some of their own personal history. Every family has their own story and lineage.”
It’s an education for everyone, she says. About 100,000 people visit the pueblo every year and she suggests visiting this summer for any of the religious feast days listed on the website, taospueblo.com. She says camping is available on the powwow grounds.
Being a World Heritage Site means that some funds are available to help with preserving the pueblo. And she says sharing ideas and communicating with other living villages on the list “helps us feel connected with people all over the world.”
Ancient residents
One of the other sites, the Chaco Culture National Historic Park, celebrates the ancient pueblo people who lived in northwest New Mexico.
Both Chaco Canyon, near Nageezi and about 50 miles west of Cuba, and the Aztec Ruins National Monument, near Aztec and Farmington, are part of the national park with the designation, says Nathan Hatfield, chief of interpretation for the park.
Thousands of ancestral Puebloans lived in the massive buildings in Chaco from about A.D. 850 to 1250. Visitors can still marvel at the organizational and engineering ability with camping, guided tours, hiking and biking trails and evening campfire talks.
One particularly impressive event and likely the most popular is the summer solstice sunrise when the precisely engineered Casa Rinconada kiva reveals a particular pattern of light and shadow as the sun begins its climb in the sky, he says. Other light patterns are visible at winter solstice and fall and spring equinox.
“There’s an alignment feature within the kiva that shows us the alignment was intentional. The builders and planners used solar and possibly even lunar events to create the alignment. It’s extremely fascinating,” Hatfield says.
The guided event is available to the first 100 people who appear at the visitors gate before sunrise on the two days of solstice, June 19 and 20, he says. Entry admission is $20 a vehicle or $10 for individuals on foot and is good for seven days. More information is available at nps.gov.
Cave system
On the southeast corner of the state, Carlsbad Caverns National Park has more than 120 limestone caves that natural forces meticulously carved about 25,000 years ago. The park, created in 1923, is one of the best preserved and most accessible cave systems that is available for scientific study in the world, according to the World Heritage Site website.
“We get more international visitors who know we are a World Heritage Site than our national and local visitors,” says Valerie Gohlke, public affairs specialist for the park. “It’s an honor to be considered equal to a place like Yellowstone. It’s another layer of recognition. The international folks are more aware of the honors.”
Gohlke recommends a guided tour through the King’s Palace cave for firsttime visitors: “It’s nothing too difficult.”
The park has about 360,000 visitors annually. The largest cavern, Lechuguilla Cave, is 136 miles long and 1,604.2 feet deep. The most public cave, Carlsbad Cavern, is 30 miles long and inside, the Big Room is 8.2 acres.
The park, 27 miles from Carlsbad off U.S. 62/180, offers star parties with large telescopes to view the dark night sky.
There are bat flights leaving the cave and a ranger talk at the outdoor amphitheater every evening. More than 17 species of bats have been identified in the area.
The talk is free, but admission to the park, good for three days, is $10 for those 16 and older and free for those younger. Ranger guided tours have an additional fee. Visit nps.gov.