Tent Rock, New Mexico

Tent Rock is less than an hour’s drive south of Santa Fe and approximately an hour north of Albuquerque. From I-25, take exit 264 to NM16 west. From there, follow the signs–it’s about 20 minutes and you’ll be passing through reservation, private property and onto a dirt road that leads to the parking area. It’s well worth the side trip. Take water and lunch because there is little out there other than a small Indian reservation and dam. Although we passed a school, we did not see a gas station or store. There is one about 7 miles out of your way in the Village of Cochiti Lake near the dam/lake area.

	The first part of Tent Rock trail is interesting, although nothing particularly earth-shattering. The sandstone “tents” look more like teepees, most ending at a point. Some have rocks or boulders teetering at the top, looking quite ready to roll down the cone sides. The most interesting part of this hike is not included in the one mile loop.
	Follow the trail from either side of the loop back into the canyon. That is where the fun starts. For the most part, you’ll be walking on sand, but there are several narrow openings through the canyon where the hard sandstone hasn’t yielded to wind and water. The trail is well-kept and quite gradual until the last quarter of a mile. At that point, you’re climbing level with the “tents” and there are dreaded switchbacks, but it doesn’t go for long, nor is it insurmountable.
	The view from the top is excellent! You can see off into forever–the mountains, the dam, the river, over to Santa Fe and Albuquerque. From this level you also see the “tents” from above, a neat perspective.

The whole hike is between 3 and 4 miles round trip. One side of the loop is longer than the other—it provides more interesting scenes than the shorter side, but if you’re in a hurry, take the short side of the loop back into the canyon.

It’s a great half-day hike–narrow canyon, water-washed walls, scooped formations and the wind whistling through it all.

This national monumuent is open year round, although winter hours list as closing at five o’clock. If you go in the summer, go early as some parts of the trail will be under full sun and quite hot. Winter could be quite cold especially with the wind coming through the canyon. This trip was towards the end of Sept and the temperature was perfect!