Puye Cliff Dwellings

The name Puye comes from the Tewa words for "cottontail rabbits" and "to assemble" — a hunting place, then home to as many as 1,500 people between 900 and 1580. Carved into the Bandelier Tuff on Santa Clara Pueblo land, these cliff dwellings held roughly 740 rooms across two levels, plus mesa-top structures and a central plaza. Drought pushed the community toward the Rio Grande valley around 1580. The people of Santa Clara Pueblo claim descent from those who lived here. Tours run through the Puye Cliffs Welcome Center.