Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument - Quarai Unit and Visitor Center — Attraction in Four Corners States

Omg this is a hidden gem !! Who knew there was a National park here!! We decided to follow the path and found out there are 3 spots, we visited 2 ruins in this trip. Back in the 1600s the Catholic priests came here to teach about Jesus to the natives who had their cities here!’ The cities were adobe cities and so not many remnants survived, but they lived here since the 12-14 century which makes this seemingly desolate place as old as Machu Picchu!! This place should be more relevant and the ruins of the actual native tribe’s adobe buildings should be more Excavated to give us a better view of their lives and achievements (imho). As it stands, you can see more ruins on one site but the big church ruins is what stands out. So why did the natives leave their town? Theories say that there was a drought- there was a plague and there were raids from other native tribes (apaches) who were also hit by all This..: as it is, this is such an interesting archaeological site!! Who said the native tribes did not have “cities”? This proves them wrong. They were not all nomadic. Very cool. Needs more visitors!! (And imho the area needs to develop more services for the hundreds of tourists that should be Driving here, like restaurants and cute kitsch places to welcome you). As it is the Visitor Centre and the Lone Ranger are such welcoming sites in this remote parks! There’s a very well kept store, exhibits and a bathroom to help you along the way....

My wife and I decided to stop in to see the Salinas Pueblo Missions on our trip from Santa Fe to Alamogordo. We had decided to take the track off the beaten path and drove south from Santa Fe on Highway 14, also known as the Turquoise Trail. It's a great road trip that takes you from the relative mountainous terrain in the Santa Fe region down to the plains at Interstate 40. We then took the Interstate east to Moriarty and went south from there to the mission at Quarai. With this elaborate route we had managed to get there just prior to sunset at 4:30 on a wonderful clear fall evening, Thanksgiving Day. The side trip was definitely worth it with the ruins situated in a beautiful location away from the crowds which are typical at other points of interest. Fortunately our late arrival turned out perfectly for both the light as well as the lack of other visitors; we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The park ranger had mentioned that she was ready to leave for the holiday, however was kind enough to give us a half hour to explore. The ruins were mystical in the evening light and we even had the good fortune of capturing a Great Gray owl in the act of hunting, just adding to the mystique. All in all this made for a very unique and memorable...

The Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument consists of three Mission ruins in the beautiful State of New Mexico that you’ll need to drive to due to the distance between them. Quarai Ruins: The Spanish Franciscan mission church of La Purisima Concepcion (1630) is the most complete remaining example of the three Salinas Pueblo Missions. On the edge of the plains, located at the eastern flank of the Manzano Mountains, stands the abandoned Tiwa Pueblo Indian village of Quarai (1200-1670). The village and the Mission were abandoned in the late-1600s due to drought, famine, and disease. The natives and the Franciscans relocated to pueblos located along the Rio Grande 50-miles away. Abo’ Ruins: Located adjacent to the major east-west trade route through Abo’ Pass, the Tompiro Pueblo of Abo’ (1300s-1670s) was one of the Southwest’s largest Pueblo Indian villages. Natives’ homes are dominated by the Spanish Franciscan mission church of the San Gregorio de Abo’ which stood 40’...