Aztec West Audio Tour Introduction

The introduction for the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. This tour starts in or directly outside of the visitor center.

Aztec West Audio Tour: A Place By Flowing Waters

The first cultural story of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Living

The seventh cultural story of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Resonance

The sixth cultural story of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #1

The first numbered stop of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

• You're standing at the Southwestern corner of the Aztec West great house. This section was likely constructed between 1120 and 1130 CE (common era), the final of 3 phases of initial construction starting in 1100 CE.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #10

• You are back on the paved trail in the plaza at a roofless room with a T shaped doorway. It was typical for T shaped doorways to be in rooms closest to the plaza.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #11

• Remaining on the paved path, you have made your way towards the Northwestern corner and are about to enter in a series of enclosed rooms. There are warnings about low doorways and for visitors to be careful.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #12

• You are within an original, interior room along the north wall of the Aztec West great house. The temperature has likely dropped and it is fairly dark. The openings to the south have plexiglass on them. This opening in the room toward the south shows an original mat of willows sewn with yucca and cord to cover the door. This was handmade by the ancestral Pueblo people 800 years prior and remains in tact today.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #13

• Continuing to the west through a series of low doorways, you remain within the interior rooms of the great house. The roof above you shows an impressive layering of large and small logs. This is the original roof.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #14

• You have entered into another interior room through openings facing east and west, with plexiglass covering the original openings facing north and south.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #15

• After exiting the interior rooms, the paved path takes you up a gradual incline to a kiva not connected to the Aztec West great house. This structure is a rare tri-wall kiva. A majority of the structure isn't visible due to backfill, but the tops of walls can be seen protruding from the ground.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #16

• You are standing at the Northwest corner of the Aztec West great house. The north wall, two and three stories high, is a in alignment with the sunrise during the summer solstice and sunset during the winter solstice.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #17

• The paved trail has taken you along the western wall where a unique strip of green stone can be seen in a stripe formation. The rest of the wall is tan sandstone.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #18

• After ascending some stairs, the final stop gives an vantage point of the entire great house from the second floor. The entire east and north walls can be seen and a separate great house, Aztec East, can be seen further past the east wall of Aztec West. The Great Kiva is visible in the plaza and the picnic area of the park is visible to the south. A mesa is present past the north wall, as well, and some cottonwood trees rise from behind the northeast corner.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #2

The second numbered stop on the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

• You've moved along the paved trail to a section where the Great Kiva and plaza are visible. People would have entered the great house at this location through an arc of single story rooms.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #3

The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

• You are within the Great Kiva standing at the bottom of one of four columns holding up the 95-ton wooden roof. This Great Kiva was fully restored by Earl Morris in 1934. You are standing on a dirt floor surrounded by a circular, plastered wall with 15 concentric rooms built around the central chamber. On the Great Kiva floor, there is also a fire pit, two floor vaults, four columns, and an outer bench. The shape of the Great Kiva is a keyhole, so there is a lofted altar area on the north side of the chamber. There are stairs to enter in and out of the space.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #4

The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

• You are within the Great Kiva standing at the northern end of the structure near a stack of limestone discs. You are standing on a dirt floor surrounded by a circular, plastered wall with 15 concentric rooms built around the central chamber. On the Great Kiva floor, there is also a fire pit, two floor vaults, four columns, and an outer bench. The shape of the Great Kiva is a keyhole, so there is a lofted altar area on the north side of the chamber. There are stairs to enter in and out of the space. The wooden roof above you is fully enclosed.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #5

The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

• You are standing in the plaza now at the top of an open kiva. When looking down into this circular structure, there are remnants of wooden beams used in the dome roofing and layers of stacked sandstone creating the walls. The kiva is sunken about 10 feet into the ground.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #6

The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

• You are standing on the paved path next to the rooms on the eastern wall of the great house. There is a corner door positioned at the intersection of the north and east walls on the second story, showing an interesting design choice by the ancestral Puebloans. The purpose of the corner doors is unknown, but they are unique to Chacoan great houses.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #7

• After traveling through a series of rooms with small doorways toward the east wall, you are now standing in a room without a roof. The tall sandstone walls show the details of Puebloan masonry and some preservation efforts done by the National Park Service.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #8

• The paved path has taken you to rooms extending from the north wall of the Aztec West great house. You are standing on the edge of the plaza, where many social gatherings and dances took place. The plaza is in the center of the great house and fully dirt.

Aztec West Audio Tour: Stop #9

• You have ascended several stairs to reach a kiva built in the second story of the great house. This was the earliest portion of the Aztec West great house that was built around 1100 CE (common era). You are surrounded by the remnants of third story walls and other square rooms to the east and west.

Aztec West Audio Tour: The Asking

The second cultural story of the Aztec West audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Aztec West Audio Tour: The Center

The fourth cultural story of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Aztec West Audio Tour: The Seeking

The third cultural story of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Aztec West Audio Tour: The Sharing

The final cultural story of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Aztec West Audio Tour: The Understanding

The fifth cultural story of the Aztec West self-guided audio tour. The trail through the Aztec West great house is 0.5 mile in length and requires about 40 minutes to complete using the audio tour. Most of the trail is paved and accessible to wheelchairs, with some steps and low doorways. Wheelchairs are available at the visitor center to borrow upon request.

Old Spanish Trail Retracement at Aztec Ruins

One stop of many, Antonio Armijo’s caravan of 60 men and their mules camped near here on the banks of the Animas River on their way to Los Angeles, California at the inception of the Old Spanish Trail. Follow this one half mile Trail Retracement to follow in the footsteps of traders in 1829.

• Aztec Ruins National Monument is in the town of Aztec in San Juan County, in Northern New Mexico. The Monument is one-half mile off US Route 550 on Ruin Road. The landscape surrounding the monument consists of high desert scrub and riparian zones along the river, most notably sagebrush, cottonwood trees and some more modern agricultural fields. When you are standing at Aztec Ruins National Monument, you are among one of the best restored examples of Puebloan buildings from the 13th or 14th century. The Animas River is a meandering river about 40 feet wide, there are trees like cottonwood on either bank. There is a metal pedestrian bridge crossing the river which connects Aztec Ruins National Monument with the historic downtown Aztec, New Mexico. Along the bridge there are additional interpretive signs about the Colorado River watershed, and the riparian environment along the river. The one and a half mile path takes visitors to the historic downtown district of Aztec New Mexico. Here along the river, the landscape remains very similar to the one original trail travelers would have experienced on their journey. There are several wayside signs describing historic activity along the Old Spanish Trail and information about the riparian ecosystem.

Park Store at Aztec Ruins

The park store, operated by the Western National Parks Association, has a wide range of books, media, educational games, and other items available for retail sale. Located inside the Visitor Center.

• When you walk into the visitor center, the section to the left is the park store. It has many shelves full of books and some stands full of other educational items, games, and media. The cash register is located at the front desk, straight ahead of the front door.

Aztec Ruins National Monument Visitor Center

• Aztec Ruins National Monument Visitor Center
• A historic Visitor Center with museum exhibits and a 15-minute park film. The Visitor Center is open 9:00am-5:00pm every day, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

• Eat Lunch at Aztec Ruin's Picnic Area
• Enjoy a picnic in the shade.

• Aztec West Great House Loop
• A half mile long loop following a mostly paved trail through the ancestral Pueblo Great House.

• Become an Aztec Ruins Junior Ranger
• Aztec Ruins National Monument offers a Junior Ranger program for the young and young at heart. Upon completion, participants will earn their Junior Ranger badge. Junior Ranger worksheets are available at the visitor center. 

Aztec West Self-Guided Audio Tour

Please note: stops 19 through 26 are cultural stories and do not have a corresponding numbered post on the self-guided trail. This trail guide invites you to experience Aztec Ruins from two perspectives: Interpretations based on excavations, research, and consultations with modern Southwestern tribes and the poetic, personal stories by a resident of Santa Clara Pueblo, one of several communities whose members are descendants of the people who lived throughout the Four Corners Region nine centuries ago.