• Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Trail New Mexico

The Santa Fe, New Mexico area offers a multitude of cultural and scenic attractions for RVers. One of the more scenic areas to explore is Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, located about 40 miles west of Santa Fe near the Pueblo de Cochiti, a historic pueblo of the Cochiti people. Kasha-Katuwe, or “White Cliffs” Tent Rocks is a sacred area to the Puebloans. The more difficult Canyon Trail is a 1.5-mile, one-way trek into a narrow, 'slot' canyon with a steep (630-ft) climb to the mesa top for excellent views of the Sangre de Cristo, Jemez, Sandia mountains and the Rio Grande Valley. The Veterans Memorial Trail is a 1-mile long loop trail, rated as very easy and is wheel chair accessible.

queezing through two tall vertical waves of rolling white rock, I squinted my eyes as I emerged from the shadows and into a sun-baked, fossilized grove of gargantuan gnome hats that protruded up to 90 feet skyward from the solid earth. I was breaking out in a sweat, but every successive step I took resulted in my peeling lips spreading into an ever-growing smile across my reddening face. Sharing space with structures I would have never imagined existed in nature, my mind was open to whatever I was about to encounter next.

The Southwest is full of strange surprises. You don't need mescaline to experience otherworldly visions. The land provides that in spades — as long as you know where to look.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in northwest New Mexico is one of the more peculiar landscapes I've encountered in my travels. It feels foreign and alien, like you're walking on the surface of another planet. But instead of being unnerving, the place is downright captivating as it pulls you farther into its curious crevices. There's only one other place in the world I'm aware of that has the “fairy chimney“ rock formations similar to Kasha-Katuwe (which means “white cliffs“ in the Keresan language of the Pueblo), and you have to travel to Turkey to find it.

Tent Rocks Slot Canyon Trail New Mexico

The national monument feels remote, but it's easily accessible at just 44 miles from Santa Fe and 58 miles from Albuquerque. It'd be easy to spend the morning and early afternoon hiking the trails of the park and then hitting the road for an evening in the city. I camped at nearby Tetilla Peak Recreation Area (27 miles away) on a Friday night in early May and woke up with the sun to beat the Saturday crowd. And trust me, there will most likely be crowds if it's a nice weekend in the spring or summer. The parking lot is small and fills up quickly. The secret is apparently out on this place.