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Bandelier National Monument
Falls Trail Virtual Tour
Lower Frijoles Canyon
NPS Photo by Stella Carroll
View of Lower Frijoles Canyon from just below Lower Falls

The story of the Falls Trail is the story of water. Water that tumbles and flows from snow melt and springs in the Jemez Mountains to the slowly moving Rio Grande (big river) some 4,600 feet below. Two dramatic waterfalls mark geologic transitions along the 700 foot descent from the Visitor Center. The Falls Trail follows El Rito de Los Frijoles (Frijoles Creek or Little River of Beans) 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the end of the Backpacker’s Parking Lot to the Upper Falls and then continues another mile (1.4 km) past a second waterfall and finally to the Rio Grande. 

 
Dog Petroglyph from Long House  

Did You Know?
The Ancestral Pueblo people carved petroglyphs into the soft tuff rock above many of the dwellings built along the cliffs.

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Last Updated: June 23, 2007 at 15:16 EST