Day 1 You’ll See:
Day 2 You’ll See:
- Bandelier National Monument (2 hrs away)
- Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (Santa Fe)
- Main Event Entertainment
Day 3 You’ll See:
- Turquoise Museum
- Lunch at Pueblo Harvest Cafe
- Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
An anthropological adventure your students won't soon forget! See all the most famous local landmarks, natural sites, and petroglyph monuments.
1
Petroglyph National Monument - This site is made up of a volcanic basalt escarpment that dominates the city’s western horizon, an archaeological site with thousands of prehistoric Native American drawings found scattered across stone walls. This monument is actually considered to be one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America!The designs and symbols carved into the volcanic rocks here are from Native American tribes and Spanish Settlers from around 400-700 years ago.While here your group can experience the sights from any of the many viewing trails, a few of the more popular ones including Boca Negra, a 2.2-mile hike with over 100 petroglyphs to view, Rinconada, 1.5 miles with 300 petroglyphs, or Piedras Marcadas, with 400.
Coronado Historic Site - Your group will find this spot just 1 mile west of Bernalillo County, 16 miles north of Albuquerque. The 6 acres found here were set aside for public viewing in 1939 after several years of unearthing and reconstructing. Today you will find a Visitor Center and hiking/viewing trails around the actual ruins themselves.In the 1930s excavation of the area a square kiva, or ceremonial chamber, was unearthed and several mural paintings were discovered. These paintings serve as ‘some of the finest examples of pre-Columbian art ever found in the U.S’, the 14 examples found within the Visitor Center on site. Inside the center you will also find several prehistoric and historic Puebloan and Spanish colonial artifacts, as well as several hands-on exhibits.
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology - Located on the University of New Mexico campus, the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology is the #1 spot in Albuquerque to learn all about global cultures past and present. Founded in 1932, this global heritage museum places a heavy emphasis on the Southwest, though it also briefly covers Africa, Arctic, Australia, Central and South America, New Guinea, India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia. Maxwell is considered to be the oldest public museum in all of Albuquerque and it has always worked to “actively support and enhance the University of New Mexico’s functions of education and research”.
2
Bandelier National Monument (2 hrs away) - This monument preserves the homes and territory of the ancestral Puebloans from the southwest, a truly important cultural and historic landmark.The rugged yet beautiful canyon and mesa landscape serves as a tribute to the early days of a local culture, with several petroglyphs and standing masonry walls scattered throughout. The various man made elements sit within volcanic tuff and mesa top fields, with a strong history of the great production of corn, beans, and squash that you can still see thriving today. While here your group can take advantage of the over 70 miles of trails, the entire spot giving a great variety of path difficulty levels and vistas, with choices sure to choose every individual in your group. Take Main Loop, Frey, or Cerro Grande Route, the latter being named as one of the National Park Systems oldest sites.
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (Santa Fe) - This Native American cultural hotspot was created in 1927 by the talented John Gaw Meem, popular Pueblo Revival Architecture specialist. Inside you will find over 70,000 native American artifacts, the entire center holding several different interactive exhibits and galleries. This museum is one out of four that make up the Museums of New Mexico System, making it a top repository of native art and material culture statewide.Your group will learn all about the people of the southwest by means of prehistoric through contemporary art.
Main Event Entertainment - What better way to unwind with your group after a long travel day than with some quality bowling, laser tag, and arcade game entertainment time?Here at Main Event Entertainment in Albuquerque, you will find several different fun activities that your group will love plus an amazing on site eatery with a wide variety of entrees sure to please even the pickiest of eaters. Main Event Entertainment is the premier spot in the area to eat, bowl, and play, this spot considered to be the very ‘best and easiest place to head for fun’. Enjoy state of the art bowling, multi-level laser tag, and over 100 different video and arcade games within.
3
Turquoise Museum - The Turquoise Museum will provide your group with one of the most unique museum experiences you can have in Albuquerque, this popular educational center focused on all things turquoise. A visit to this 40-year old museum center will teach you the history of the gem, the vast variety of specimens, and even give you an extensive look at turquoise gem mining across the world.The Turquoise Museum is located on Central Avenue within a small strip mall just west of Old Town. You will find the museum, an education center, an active silversmith shop, and even a gift shop within the area, the latter selling historical and contemporary gem pieces that will certainly catch your eye. You can visit a working lapidary shop as well, a spot in which turquoise is polished.
Lunch at Pueblo Harvest Cafe - The menu is seasonally evolving, the New Native American Cuisine combining traditional seasonal Pueblo flavors with contemporary cooking methods. In presenting this modernly delicious and traditionally flavored food the center aims to prove that these plates are a ‘living and vibrant part of the modern food world’
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center - This expansive informational center is dedicated to the ‘preservation and perpetuation of Pueblo culture, history, and art’, a highly regarded Blue Star Museum that will teach you all there is to know about this unique culture.Every day from 9 am to 5 pm you can explore the various permanent and rotating exhibits within, the museum using pottery, arts and crafts, jewelry, and more to best explain the culture, history, and modern day practices. The artifacts from local tribes combined with the thousands of rare artifacts and works of art within the permanent collection make for a seriously impressive collection of information. The Pueblo pottery collection here is world-renowned, as are the arts and crafts displayed such as baskets, weaving, painting, murals, and jewelry.