Courtesy of the New Mexico Department of Tourism.
Photograph by Jim Orr
Adjacent to the Gila National Forest and Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico, the surroundings at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument are much as they were when the Mogollon people inhabited the rock houses in the late 13th century. A visit to the monument is therefore a jointly natural and historical experience.
Courtesy of the New Mexico Department of Tourism. Photograph by Jim Orr 
The Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument includes spectacular 800-year-old Mogollon culture cliff dwellings above the Gila River. The site is about two miles north of Silver City in southwestern New Mexico. It is adjacent to the massive Gila National Forest.
Courtesy of the New Mexico Department of Tourism.
Photograph by Jim Orr
Wilderness areas are set aside for primitive forms of recreation, without the assistance of motorized vehicles or mechanized equipment. The Gila has spectacular scenery ranging from mountains with aspen and spruce to semi-arid lowlands. The three Gila Wilderness areas cover about 790-thousand acres within the Gila National Forest. At 3.3 million acres, the Gila is the sixth largest National Forest in the United States outside Alaska.
