Stone stairs lead to the top of a 367-foot-tall bluff, the seat of Acoma Pueblo, or Sky City, the longest continually inhabited settlement in North America. Begin the day's exploration of ancient and modern at the nearby Sky City Cultural Center with its museum, art gallery, and restaurant.

GETAWAYS
Ruins 2 Riches

Take in sacred sites and luxurious nights with three daytrips to Pueblo lands and Native-owned resorts

New Heights

Ruins: Acoma Pueblo
Riches: Sky City Hotel and Casino Resort,
owned by the Pueblo of Acoma
Sunup: Tour Acoma Pueblo, inhabited since 1150 ad
Sundown: Relax poolside and bed down in a swank suite
at Sky City Hotel

An hour west of Albuquerque off I-40, Acoma Pueblo, a.k.a. Sky City, is one of New Mexico’s most spectacular destinations, in terms of both natural beauty and Native American culture. First visit the Sky City Cultural Center, including the Haak’u Museum, Yaak’a Café, and Gaits’i Indian Art Gallery. The $15 million, 40,000-square-foot building opened in 2006, and its designers incorporated into it architectural details particular to the region: Windows are made of mica, and the T-shaped doorways echo those at Chaco Canyon. In fact, entering the Center through its gargantuan front door is the perfect start to the day’s exploration of ancient and modern Acoma Pueblo.

Once you’re familiar with the tribe’s history and art, catch the bus to the top of the 367-foot sandstone bluff, where local guides lead hour-long walking tours of Acoma Pueblo. There you’ll soak up stunning views of the valley below, learn about life on the pueblo a thousand years ago, and meet today’s residents. Visitors will also tour the San Estéban del Rey Mission, a Spanish mission built in 1630, and one of the few in New Mexico to have survived the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. When the day is done, the tribe’s new Sky City Hotel and Casino Resort offers Southwestern fare at the Huwak’a Restaurant, as well as a refreshing pool and hot tub and luxe, comfy rooms.—Laura Paskus

After a day in the sun, cool down in the pool at Sky City Hotel and Casino Resort. The next morning, sleep in, then chow down on the Huwak'a Restaurant's Sky High Pancakes.

 

 

IF YOU GO:
Sky City Cultural Museum and tour info: (800) 747-0181 or www.acomaskycity.org. (Visitors to Acoma Pueblo should note that camera permits are required, and sturdy shoes are recommended for the 3/4-mile walk.) Acoma Sky City Hotel and Casino Resort, from $93 nightly: (888) SKY-CITY (759-2489), www.skycity.com

Step into the world of the ancients at the Púye Cliff Dwellings. Just re-opened this summer, they are the ancestral home of nearby Santa Clara Pueblo. The ruins are about a 22-mile drive from luxurious Buffalo Thunder Resort.

Northern Exposure

Ruins: Púye Cliff Dwellings
Riches: Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino, owned by Pojoaque Pueblo and Hilton Hotels Corporation
Sunup: Walk among the homes and kivas of the ancient Tewa people, led by a Native guide
Sundown: Find bliss at Buffalo Thunder’s Wo’ P’in Spa

Our guide, Ben, opens the guided tour of the Púye Cliff Dwellings by informing us that: a) we are required to compliment him at least three times before the three-hour tour is over, and b) that we should watch out for the “deadly pink cliff snakes.” As we explore the ruins and listen to his words, we clearly see that he not only has a sense of humor, but also a deep respect for this place and its heritage.

It’s a treat to visit these Ancestral Puebloan ruins by means of a guided tour, often led by a native of nearby Santa Clara Pueblo. The site, about 30 miles north of Santa Fe off N.M. 30, has been closed to the public since the Cerro Grande Fire of 2000, and due to vandalism, its self-guided tours are things of the past. The ruins feel more protected now; the pottery shards, petroglyphs, and bits of obsidian that we see everywhere remain untouched.

From 1100 to 1580 AD, these cliff ruins housed up to 1,500 people. Walking around the uppermost level, where the tribal celebrations were held, it’s possible to imagine a time when these dwellings were filled with life and activity.

Near Pojoaque, 15 miles north of Santa Fe on U.S. 84/285, one-year-old Buffalo Thunder is the largest resort in New Mexico, and marks the first partnership Hilton has ever had with a Native tribe, the Pojoaque Pueblo. Inside, art is everywhere—the resort houses more than 200 pieces created by tribal artists.
To refresh after my hike in the sun, I’ve booked two skin-soothing treatments at the resort’s Wo’ P’in (Medicine Mountain) Spa: the Red Earth Cocoon body treatment ($135, $190) and the Sage & Stone facial ($190). My aesthetician is a highly skilled sorceress who paints red mud on my skin with a brush that doesn’t tickle, then wraps me like a burrito in warm blankets. After a period of bliss, I rinse off the now-toxin-soaked mud in a shower with 12 jets and a showerhead the size of a hubcap.

For the facial, she massages the hills and dales of my face with (appropriately enough) turquoise and obsidian stones, then uses the stones to work into my skin wonderful serums with names like Golden Flame and Radiance Cream. And after such thorough and expert pampering, radiant is exactly how I feel.—Jill Koenigsdorf

Bliss out in the couple's treatment room at Wo' P'in Spa, one of the amenities at one-year-old Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino. The hotel is earning buzz for its gorgeous Native art, other-worldly indoor and outdoor pool areas, and golf course.

 

 

 

IF YOU GO:
Tours of Púye Cliff Dwellings are $25 per group of 10 or less, (505) 747-2455, www.puyecliffs.com. Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino, from $212 nightly, (505) 455-5555, www.buffalothunderresort.com

Tap into centuries-old mystery at Petroglyph National Monument on the outskirts of Albuquerque. Even today, archaeologists have differing theories on the function of this rock art.

Rejuvenation Central

Ruins: Petroglyph National Monument
Riches: Hyatt Tamaya Resort & Spa, owned by Santa Ana Pueblo and Global Hyatt Corporation
Sunup: Hike among one of the largest concentrations of prehistoric Native American petroglyphs found in any urban area in the U.S.
Sundown: Tune in to Ancient Drumming, a signature offering at the Tamaya Mist Spa and Salon

When Petroglyph National Monument was established in 1990, it was on the outskirts of Albuquerque. Today, I’m immediately struck by the close juxtaposition of modern civilization and this ancient, protected escarpment with its 700-year-old rock art—an estimated 20,000 images. Each trailhead features a touchstone so that visitors can get out of their systems right away any urge to touch a petroglyph, thus protecting them for future generations.

I find that the striking beauty of these images, in high relief against the black, volcanic rock, is magnified by the mystery that surrounds them. Archaeologists still differ in their theories as to the function of petroglyphs, speculating that they were early forms of communication for travelers, or offerings to deities and spirits. Scaling the Mesa Point Trail, the Macaw Trail, and the Cliff Base Trail, I can make out clear depictions of everything from macaws (brought up from the south for trade) to zoomorphic human forms with beaks and crested plumage. I focus on a spiral—thought to be both a water symbol and an early form of calendar.

As evening approaches, it’s time to head back to the modern world and my 21st-century accommodations. Nestled on 500 acres of reservation land along the Río Grande, the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa is a 19-mile drive from the monument along N.M. 448, a.k.a. Corrales Road Scenic Byway, a meandering two-lane highway through the village of Corrales and its shady cottonwoods, grassy pastures, and grazing horses. On arriving at the hotel, in store for me is the Ancient Drumming treatment ($190) at the Mist Spa and Salon. I’m prepared to surrender to hypnotic tribal music, but the drumming turns out to be literal percussion played on my body, which is first slathered with red clay from the nearby Jémez Mountains. Then, the aesthetician rhythmically thrums away all my stress with little muslin bags filled with flaxseed. Next, my skin is exfoliated with piñon-resin scrub, and just when I think it can’t get any better, I’m rubbed with fragrant oils, and my hands and feet are wrapped in moist, hot towels—a blissful end to a refreshing day.—Jill Koenigsdorf

With its serene setting on Santa Ana Pueblo land and its Mist Spa and Salon, the Hyatt Tamaya Resort is a relaxing oasis at day's end.

 

 

IF YOU GO:
Petroglyph National Monument, (505) 899-0205 or www.nps.gov/petr; Las Imágenes Visitor Center, (505) 899-0205, Ext. 331; Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, from $289 nightly, (505) 867-1234, www.tamaya.hyatt.com

 

 

 

 

 

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