Attractions and Places To See around Los Alamos - Top 20

As you wrap up the trail, you'll be treated to a stunning sight: natural arches forming a beautiful frame around the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the town of Los Alamos. It's the perfect spot to catch a break or watch the sunset before you head back.

The Lower Water Canyon Trail is part of an extensive network of running, hiking, and mountain biking trails near White Rock, New Mexico, a small community outside of Los Alamos. This trail traverses the southern rim of the mesa and offers great views over the open desert. You can connect this trail with many others in the area to make many different length running loops in this unique area. The Lower Water Canyon Trail is slightly harder than the others in the area as you run over basalt, tuff, and loose gravel.

The Lower Water Canyon Trail is part of an extensive network of hiking, running, and mountain biking trails near White Rock, New Mexico, a small community outside of Los Alamos. This trail traverses the southern rim of the mesa and offers great views over the open desert. You can connect this trail with many others in the area to make many different length hiking loops in this unique area. The Lower Water Canyon Trail is slightly harder than the others in the area as you ride over basalt, tuff, and loose gravel.

The cavetes are located just below the ancient central village plaza in the cliff bands that make up the mesa. These cavates (human excavated cavities) were places where people could take shelter from the elements; the thick stone walls provided insulation from both the cold of winter and heat of summer. Talus pueblos were also most-likely constructed in front of the entrance to the cavates to further protect people from wind, rain, snow, and perhaps most importantly in the desert, heat. Please only enter cavetes that are immediately adjacent to the trail - the other cavets are dangerous to access.

This spot is near where the center ancient Tsankawi Village once stood. From here you get fantastic views out over the mesa of Jémez Mountains to the west, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Española Valley to the east, and about 70 miles south you can see the Sandia Mountains, near Albuquerque. In addition to the natural high ground that the mesa afforded the Indigenous people and caves that dot the cliffsides, there used to be tall defensive walls to protect this central plaza. You can see the remains of these walls and other structures as well as pottery shards. Collecting these important historical artifacts is illegal and even moving them from one spot to another in the village can disrupt our understanding of the area. As you leave this area you get to walk on ancient pathways carved into the rock itself. There are some ancient small stone steps carved in the cliffs, but please stick to the ladders rather than climb the steps.

The Lower Water Canyon Trail is part of an extensive network of hiking, running, and mountain biking trails near White Rock, New Mexico, a small community outside of Los Alamos. This trail traverses the southern rim of the mesa and offers great views over the open desert. You can connect this trail with many others in the area to make many different length hiking loops in this unique area.

This alcove is located 140 feet above the floor of Frijoles Canyon and once housed 25 Ancestral Pueblo people. The Alcove House is now accessed by a series of wooden ladders.

A natural arch that forms a window framing the Sangre de Cristo's Mountains & the town of Los Alamos.