Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument or just

"Tent Rocks" is a collection of cone-shaped rock formations that remind one of tents. They are the products of volcanic eruptions from Bear Head Peak that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago and left pumice, ash, and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick. Tremendous explosions from the Jemez volcanic field spewed pyroclasts (rock fragments) while searing hot gases blasted down slopes in an incandescent avalanche called a “pyroclastic flow.”

Precariously perched on many of the tapering hoodoos are boulder caps that protect the softer pumice and tuff below. Some tents have lost their hard, resistant caprocks and are disintegrating. While fairly uniform in shape, the tent rock formations vary in height from a few feet up to 90 feet.

The monument is part of the Cochiti Pueblo and may be closed at any time by order of the Cochiti Tribal Governor.  If you go there, don't neglect going on the road to the lookout point above the hoodoos. It is the best place to see the structures in their entirety.

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