Santa Fe Day Trips: Coronado State Monument
Story by Marin Sardy
From I-25, turn north at Exit 242 and drive about two miles into Bernalillo, to Coronado State Monument ($5, 8:30–5, closed Tuesdays, 505-867-5351, nmmonuments.org). It’s where, in the 1930s, scientists unearthed the abandoned pueblo of Kuaua near the lush banks of the Rio Grande. Inhabited between about 1300 and 1600, Kuaua’s elaborate kivas and residences include 1,000-plus impressively even adobe-brick rooms. On a half-hour stroll through the site, read about Coronado’s reputed visit to the pueblo in 1540, take in the view of the towering Sandias, and check out some artifacts in the John Gaw Meem–designed visitor center.
