Gila Cliff Dwellings First Days

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

The First Days:

We arrived here on a sunny Saturday afternoon. (“Here” being the RV park where the Park Service pays for the space for our RV during our stay.) As RV parks go Gila Hot Springs RV Park is not the worst place we have seen, but it is definitely not the best either. We do have sewer, water, and electric. There is a building with 2 showers and even a hot springs heated hot tub. The park service hooked us up to a large propane tank so that is taken care of also. The park is located on the site of a previous airstrip. The sites lie lengthwise along either side of a dirt road that probably once felt the tires of a Piper Cub. There are quite large trees that are growing at the edge of the road so it has been quite some time since this field was active. Currently there are four rigs that are occupied by fellow volunteers and two old single-wide mobile homes parked along the road with about five empty spots that occasionally are occupied by a visitor to the cliff dwellings.

Dawson (Doc) Campbell at one time owned most the land in this valley and the family still owns a large part including this park and the hot springs resort area across the street and down to the Gila River. If you read the history of the area, you will find that Doc was “custodian” for the Gila Cliff Dwellings during the 1950’s and 60’s so the Campbell family are a big part of the history of this area. They keep horses, sheep, and goats some of which are grazed in the pastures next to the RV park so we are exposed to the sights, sounds, and smells of a ranch.

The National Monument is located 3 miles north of the RV park on highway 15. Driving those three miles you will pass from Grant County to Catron County, be in land that is managed by the State of New Mexico, US Forest Service, and finally the National Park Service (the National Monument). Law enforcement, fire fighting, and just general management issued are made complicated because of the checkerboard arrangement of the area. Then throw in some private land ownership to the mix for added fun. At the end of the road, you come to the VC ( Visitor Center) which is a modest but nice building with the requisite lobby, book store, maps on the wall, museum, and small theater for showing the 15 minute video about the park. When you enter the VC you will be greeted by a uniformed person and see several others at desks and walking around. Unless you pay close attention you would think they are park employees. Chances are good that most of them are volunteers. There are only a handful of permanent employees, some Park Service, some Forest Service, and one for the bookstore which is run by an independent, nonprofit organization. Some of the volunteers have been here longer than the “employees” so they know about the park and the surrounding area.

Up behind the VC is the residential/maintenance area. There are two duplexes and several apartments and dorm for volunteers and employees. The dorm is a long ranch style house with a living area in the middle and bedrooms on each end so that singles of both sexes can live there. There is a large kitchen with two stoves and refrigerators and three bathrooms and a laundry. There are an additional three washers and three dryers located in buildings nearby that we volunteers who live in the RV parks can use so that’s good. Because of the remoteness and topography, there is no cell coverage, no matter what company you have. Computers only work for email and Internet, etc. because the park has Hughes Net at the Headquarters/Visitor Center and at the residential area, so email can be checked while doing the laundry.

Next week R and I start our “regular” work schedule. I smile because of the small staff and just the nature of the place, schedules are subject to change. Anyway, next week March 9-12 (Tu-Fri) are our 4 days on for next week. We will be working some days at the VC and some at the cliff dwellings. We are somewhat trained for either, but training is just that. The real thing is always different. Look for future blogs.