Pecos

Pecos National Historical Park sits just a couple of miles from the busy I-25 corridor near Glorieta Pass, New Mexico, but it feels like a world apart. Surrounded by juniper forests and mountains, Pecos NHP is a beautiful place, but it’s not its beauty that makes it part of the National Park system. First declared a National Monument in 1965, Pecos NHP protects three pieces of history, the ancient Native-American Pecos Pueblo, the Spanish mission built near the pueblo in the 1600s, and perhaps the most surprising, the site of an American Civil War battlefield.

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Our Visit I visited Fort Union in late September as part of a road trip across New Mexico

Some of the ruins of the Pecos Pueblo

Our Weather. Upper 70s and beautifully sunny

Overall Impression. Pecos NHP really has a split personality; there’s the pueblo and mission ruins, and there’s the battlefield. Most visitors will only take the time to visit the ruins, and this alone is well worth the visit if you’re passing through. Not only will you learn about history, but you’ll do so surrounded by natural beauty.

Visiting. Pecos NHP is easy to visit if you’re traveling on I-25 through northern New Mexico. It’s only a few minutes off the freeway, though due to the on- and off-ramp arrangements, you might have to drive past it and take a side route along a piece of Historic Route 66 to double-back. All told, you can see the ruins with a 60-90 minute detour. All visits start at the Visitors Center, only a short walk from the ruins. Unless you’re in a big rush, take the time to walk through the excellent museum in the Visitors Center–here you’ll see recovered artifacts but also walk through the timeline of history in this area from Native American to Spanish territory to the Santa Fe Trail to the Civil War and beyond. This will help you appreciate the strategic importance of this area throughout history.

The ruins of the Spanish mission church are impressive, and you can walk through them

After the museum, take the Ruins Trail to see the site’s centerpiece. The trail is an easy one, well kept and a smooth elevation gain, and it will take most visitors about 30-45 minutes. You start looking up at the ruins and then wind your way up to them and then through them, seeing the low remains of walls and round kivas that made up the pueblo. There are some signs, but the trail guide brochure offers more information as some sites are marked only with a number–unfortunately, they were out of brochures when I visited, but there was enough information on the signs to make it worthwhile and interesting. After the pueblo, the trail takes you to the site of the old mission church, the largest ruin at the site. The remaining walls are well preserved, and you can walk through the church on the remarkably preserved stone floor.

These markers lie at the extreme western edge of the Battlefield Trail loop

If you have an extra hour or more, consider going to the nearby site of the Glorieta Pass Battlefield, also managed by Pecos NHP. I would only recommend this if you just really like Civil War history, or you want to take a nice 2+ mile walk through the forest. If you’ve been to Civil War Battlefields in the east, they tend to be well kept up and marked with cannons and historic buildings to help you feel what it must have been like to be at the battle. The Glorieta Pass Battlefield is devoid of cannons, and the vegetation has taken over making the scene today very different from 1862 when a Confederate force marched over Glorieta Pass looking to take the Union stronghold and armory at Fort Union. While the Confederates technically won the battle here, a band of Union soldiers found their nearly unguarded supply wagons and burned them, forcing the Confederates to turn back and keeping the riches of the West in Union hands. The battlefield has no visitors center, so you’ll first have to get the combination to the lock at the parking lot gate. For a short walk, you can cut across the narrow part of the loop trail, or if you’re up for it, you can hike the full 2.25 miles of the Battlefield Trail. It is a nice hike with plenty of shade, but other than the occasional sign telling of events during the battle, you’d never really know you’re on a battlefield.

Suggestions. While it doesn’t look like you’re in a desert, it is extremely dry here, so bring plenty of water, especially if you’re going to hike the battlefield. The Santa Fe Trail also ran through both portions of Pecos NHP, but there’s little to let you know it was here–if its Santa Fe Trail history you’re seeking, you’ll get a better appreciation for it at Fort Union.

Nearby Towns Pecos, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Albuquerque (NM)

Other Nearby Attractions Fort Union NM, Petroglyph NM

Official NPS Website Pecos National Historical Park

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