Tsankawi Ruins Trail is a 1.7 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Santa Fe, New Mexico that features beautiful wild flowers and is good for all skill levels. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round.
kid friendly
birding
hiking
nature trips
trail running
walking
cave
views
wild flowers
no dogs
Tsankawi Ruin, part of the Bandelier National Monument, is a 2.5 mile loop trail located near Los Alamos, New Mexico and is good for most skill level. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is accessible year-round. There are some Kiva Ladders that must be climbed. Rocky trail mostly. Much of it over tuff (compressed volcanic ash). Tuff is very fragile, so please be careful to protect. There is Sandstone too and much of the lower loop is rocky. There are two Kiva Ladders on the trail. One about 10 feet and the other maybe 20 ft.
The trail should be rated moderate due to the narrow trench you need to navigate on the return loop.
Also, trail running is not a viable option for the same reason.
What a lovely hiking spot! Much nicer than the sites that charge $20 a person! Great panoramic views!! A beautiful spot!!
Nancy K.
My hiking partner and I have hiked this beautiful trail three times in the last couple years, mostly for the quiet and the breath-taking views. We always take a picnic and plenty of water in the pack (sunscreen is a must regardless of the time of year). The trail is easy to follow, but there are a couple of steep ladders to climb to the top of the mesa where the ancestral people lived. It's much less travelled than the main Bandelier trails, and as Robert Frost wrote, that makes all the difference. Note that the trail is exceptional dusty and the volcanic ash surface is relatively crumbly, so hiking boots will serve you better than sneakers.
LOVE LOVE LOVED! this trail! We went late afternoon which highlighted the afternoon sun on the beautiful terrain and VIEWS! Highly recommend!
Had a great time and loved seeing all the pottery shards .
We loved it. Great place to both take your time and speak it all in or zip through. Very repeatable.
There are some steep spots and ladders that make this challenging for an easy rating. My 70 year old mother had to turn back and sit it out. Easy should allow all ages. That being said it was amazing but take water and sunscreen. I rate this moderate on the climbs and easy on the flats.
My boyfriend and I found this trail using this awesome app. We were supposed to go to Bandelier National Monument but I could not get on a packed shuttle, claustrophobic, and the shuttle was the only way to get there.
Anyway, we found this trail and my boyfriend, Matt, said it was even better than Bandelier. It's not as crowded and the un excavated site really lends itself to many surprises. I'm not saying you should skip Bandelier but this trail was an absolute beauty.
Best short hike for a family to have fun and learn a little on the way. Our 4 year old daughter made it the whole way and loved the ladders.