Walatowa Visitor Center — Attraction in Four Corners States

Beware of Jemez pueblo if you are from out of state! The give a reported 1,900 traffic tickets a month, totaling a reported half a million in revenue annually. As motorists we rely on traffic police to use honesty and integrity when handing out moving violations. You will get no such treatment here. We were in a 40 mph zone and ticketed by tribal police for going 40 mph supposedly in the previous 30 mph zone. But what proof does a motorist have?. So a $14 trip to 2 historic sites with our family of 6 turned out to cost us an unexpected$75 toll for traveling through the pueblo.

I guess that is what we get for trying to teach our four kids to honour and respect...

To me, any visitor center should have public working toilets, and this center, although very interesting, does not. And has not for a while. And won’t for the foreseeable future. Neither does the gas station next door to the visitor center. So, be prepared to drive at least one mile up the road to a nearby fishing hole to use the toilet. This is unacceptable. The employees were semi-apologetic because they have no power nor authority to fix this issue. If you are walking the 1 1/2 mile Red Rock Trail, (5 stars BTW), there aren’t any toilets there either. Well worth the visit, but use toilets before arriving to Walatowa Visitor Center to start the Red...

My small group stopped here to check out the local history. I was greeted by two tables outside that held beautiful hand-crafted artwork by a couple local artists. The pottery was crafted from the raw materials found on the earth and painted by hand on the local style. The other table had finely made pieces of jewelry. The obsidian pieces were incredible.

Inside we were greeted warmly and were told some local history that wasn't on display. I love talking to the locals, their stories are full of warmth and humor, not just a list of facts.

The historical museum was good, I just wish I had more time to indulge.

Great place, a most stop at place...