Acoma Pueblo Day Tour

An hour west of Albuquerque, the land opens into high desert, and then Acoma appears: a village of adobe perched atop a sheer sandstone mesa, 367 feet above the plain. Known as "Sky City," it has been home to the Acoma people for centuries, one of the longest continuously inhabited places in North America, and a National Historic Landmark. Reached for most of its history by hand-cut footholds in the rock, it is a place that feels suspended between earth and sky.

Your day begins at Hotel Chaco, where you meet your guide for the drive west to the Acoma Visitor Center. There you are welcomed by a member of the Pueblo, who leads you up the mesa and through the village on a private interpretive tour. At its heart stands San Esteban del Rey, begun in 1629 and the oldest surviving mission church in New Mexico, its adobe walls rising above the homes below and its interior adorned with traditional Acoma imagery. Your guide shares the Pueblo's history and culture in their own words, and asks that you honor the sacred burial grounds that rest in the church's shadow.

Acoma is also a living community of artists. The Pueblo's pottery is renowned across the world for its delicate thin walls and intricate black-and-white designs, and many pieces are sold by the artisans themselves. The day includes time at the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak'u Museum, where the Pueblo tells its own story, so you leave not just having seen an extraordinary place, but having begun to understand the people who have called it home for generations.