Improvements At Bandelier Include 55 Parking Spaces

Part of the new Cottonwood Parking Area at Bandelier National Monument. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
Bandelier has 55 new parking places close to the Visitor’s Center in the heart of the park. The new spaces are on a narrow, paved road across Frijoles Creek from the existing parking lot and a newly-constructed bridge joins the two areas. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladaiypost.com
 
Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladaiypost.com
 
By MAIRE O’NEILL
Los Alamos Daily Post

Locals and return visitors alike will be surprised to see the many recent improvements at Bandelier National Monument including some additional 55 new parking places close to the Visitor’s Center in the heart of the park. The new spaces are on a narrow, paved road across Frijoles Creek from the existing parking lot and a newly-constructed bridge joins the two areas.

“The new bridge won’t act as a dam like the old one did in the event of heavy rains,” Superintendent Jason Lott said. He said the parking improvements are one of several projects already underway or planned during the coming year.

Lott, who has been superintendent at Bandelier since 2009, said visitors will notice a big scar on the roadway caused by the recent upgrades to the electrical system at the park.

“The previous electrical system dated back to the 1960s so during the last couple of years, we have had power outages of up to a week and have had to operate on generators,” he said.

The roofs of the Visitor’s Center, the administrative offices and the entrance station are to be replaced. The bathrooms at Juniper Campground have been completely renovated, including the floors, walls, fixtures and heaters. The patio area behind the Visitor’s Center is getting some new flagstones and should be finished by Memorial Day.

Archeological work is being conducted at the park in preparation for adding a triplex unit for seasonal employee housing in the existing housing area off Juniper Campground Road.

“We are also planning two spike camps in that area, which can be used for youth work crews and to bring in new soils by helicopter to bring it back up to National Park Service standards.

The concrete barriers between the Frijoles Creek and the Visitor’s Center are slated to be removed now that the threat of flooding has subsided enough. Lott said NPS is trying to figure out how to rebuild the Falls Trail and expects that to be a big challenge.

Lott is looking forward to several annual youth programs, which take place at Bandelier each summer. The Bandelier Youth Corps, which is in its eighth year, takes youth from Los Alamos, Espanola and the local pueblos to the park to work on trails and other outdoor projects. The Bandelier Preservation Corps works on historic preservation projects, learns how to preserve pueblo ruins through traditional techniques while also learning about the park’s former inhabitants.

Another group, the Pueblo Preservation Youth Crew, consists of all-Native youth from various pueblos who spend 10 weeks at the park. They work with skilled pueblo mentors on stabilizing the ruins of the Tyuonyi Pueblo where Ancestral Puebloans lived from around 1325 to the mid-1400s near Frijoles Creek. The project is a cooperative effort with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Two other groups, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and the Ancestral Lands Corps also work at Bandelier in the summer. They work on trails and vegetation projects such as addressing “social trails” where visitors fail to stay on the official trails by planting cacti as a natural barrier. They also work on creek restoration and removing exotic vegetation such as Russian olive trees from the area.

Bandelier’s shuttle bus from White Rock goes into operation May 14, Lott said. He emphasized that visitors can drive into the park prior to 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m. each day.

“Between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., the park gets crowded, but if you come before 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m. you can get a nice parking spot,” he said. “You can also drive to Bandelier, park at the amphitheater and ride the shuttle down to the Visitor’s Center.”

Lott suggests wearing a good hat, taking a water bottle, and hiking the downhill Frey Trail to the Visitor’s Center and taking the shuttle bus back up.

Another suggestion he made was for seniors aged 62 or over to purchase their America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands lifetime pass for $10 soon because the cost of those passes is expected to rise to $20 per year. He said local residents should consider buying their annual National Parks passes at Bandelier prior to heading out on vacation because “where you buy your pass is where the money stays”.

For more information on Bandelier, call 505.672.3861 or visit https://www.nps.gov/band.

Frijoles Creek runs under the new footbridge at Bandelier National Monument. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
Administrative offices at Bandelier National Monument. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
A group of friends picnic in the center of the parking lot at the Bandelier Visitor’s Center. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
The concrete barrier next to the Bandelier Visitor’s Center is slated to be removed now that the danger of flooding has subsided. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
New water stations have been set up at various locations at Bandelier. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
Local Eagle Scouts have constructed and placed benches around the Bandelier trails. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
Ponderosa Campground provides beautiful tall trees for shade. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 
Some of the quiet, shaded parking spaces in the Cottonwood Parking area at Bandelier. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

Bandelier National Monument. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladaiypost.com

Bandelier National Monument. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladaiypost.com

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