The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, one of four museums of the Museum of New Mexico system in Santa Fe, is a premier repository of Native art and material culture and tells the stories of the people of the Southwest from pre-history through contemporary art. The museum serves a diverse, multicultural audience through changing exhibitions, public lectures, field trips, artist residencies, and other educational programs.
Bandelier National Monument protects over 33,000 acres of rugged but beautiful canyon and mesa country, with evidence of people having lived here for more than 11,000 years. Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into the soft rock cliffs, and masonry pueblos (villages) are evidence of the Ancestral Pueblo people whose descendants still live nearby. Most visitors begin exploring Bandelier by walking the Main Loop Trail. This short 1.2 mile loop trail starts from the Visitor Center and leads through excavated archeological sites in Frijoles Canyon. A portion of this trail is handicapped accessible. The 3 mile round-trip Falls Trail leads downcanyon from the Visitor Center to the beautiful Upper Falls, with a guidebook featuring the geology.