Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

Basic Information - Camping - Activities

Once, thriving American Indian trade communities of Tiwa and Tompiro speaking Puebloans inhabited this remote frontier area of central New Mexico. Early in the 17th-century Spanish Franciscans found the area ripe for their missionary efforts. However, by the late 1670s the entire Salinas District, as the Spanish had named it, was depopulated of both Indian and Spaniard. What remains today are austere yet beautiful reminders of this earliest contact between Pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonials: the ruins of four mission churches, at Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira and the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas or, as it is known today, Gran Quivira. Established in 1980 through the combination of two New Mexico State Monuments and the former Gran Quivira National Monument, the present Monument comprises a total of 1,100 acres.

Basic Information

Operating Hours, Seasons
Daily-summer hours (Memorial Day - Labor Day): 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Winter hours (rest of the year): 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Getting There
PLANE - To Park: Air transportation, Amtrak, and bus service to Albuquerque. Access by Interstate Highways (I-40, I-25), state highway (NM 55, NM 60), and National Park Service access roads.

CAR - DIRECTIONS: The Mountainair headquarters can be reached by taking I-25 south from Albuquerque to Belen, then NM 47 diagonally to US 60, then east 21 miles to Mountainair. To travel the historic highway route from the north, take I-40 east from Albuquerque to NM 337, drive south 54 miles to Mountainair. Information on the Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira ruins, as well as the surrounding area, are provided by National Park Service rangers at all three ruins and park headquarters.

Weather & Climate
CLIMATE, RECOMMENDED CLOTHING: Generally mild, dry summers, occasional snow in winter, fierce winds in spring. Walking shoes and sportswear in summer, light outerwear in winter are recommended.

Accessibility
Accessibility: All four sites are partially wheelchair accessible. The trail at Abó is hard-surfaced. Handicapped restrooms are available at all sites. Special Needs: Braille text available on request at each unit. A captioned AV program is available at headquarters. Parking areas are designated and designed for special needs vehicles.

Getting Around
Private Vehicle.

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Camping

There are no camping facilities found within the park.

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Activities

Walking the interpretive trail through the missions and pueblos, sight seeing at the three historic sites, visit the museums,picnicking, bird watching and wildflower identification.

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