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Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Reopens After Storm Damage

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By NPT Staff - January 25th, 2017

Repairs to a state highway leading to Gila Cliff Dwellings NM have been completed, allowing visitors to once again marvel at the 700-year-old cliff ruins in the park/NPS, David Velk

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in New Mexico is back in business thanks to speedy work by a variety of state and federal agencies to rebuild a road that was washed out in late December.

The storm, which hit December 22-23, caused flooding of the West Fork of the Gila River that swept away a section of New Mexico 15 that takes visitors to the park's visitor center and the Cliff Dwelling Ruins themselves. While the visitor center was open for the past month, the Cliff Dweller Canyon Trail and the ruins were closed.

Despite the holiday season, the New Mexico Highway Department, Forest Service, Game & Fish Department, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers set a record in speedy cooperation to rebuild the section carried away by the torrent without impacting the habitat of endangered and threatened fish species.

As of January 21, visitors can again scale the cliffside path to explore the 700-year-old ruin left by the Mogollon culture. Gila Cliff Dwellings is the only National Park Service site dedicated to preserving the cultural legacy of the Mogollon culture.

The trail leading to the cliff ruins at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument has reopened to visitors/NPS, Rita Garcia

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