Walatowa Visitor Center

Absolutely phenomenal views and some history that you can actually feel while hiking the red rocks trail. Be sure to go through the museum indoors and out to learn about the history of the area. The Jemez Valley is magical. It's the Christmas season while I'm visiting and the staff were requesting the guests that were coming in to purchase Christmas tree cutting passes to sing a carol. While I was there 5 very macho local young men sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas in a most exuberant way. 🎅

Came with a school. Had a fantastic time and learned a lot. Staff was kind and welcoming. We hiked, learned some hoop dancing, visited the museum, and explored. Highly recommend visiting :)

If you get the chance, pay ($12) at the visitor center for a permit and hike the Red Rock Trail (starts across the street), which is a loop that includes a side trip to a slot canyon. Beautiful and uncrowded!

To me, any visitor center should have public working toilets, and this center, although very interesting, does not. And has not for a while. And won’t for the foreseeable future. Neither does the gas station next door to the visitor center. So, be prepared to drive at least one mile up the road to a nearby fishing hole to use the toilet. This is unacceptable. The employees were semi-apologetic because they have no power nor authority to fix this issue. If you are walking the 1 1/2 mile Red Rock Trail, (5 stars BTW), there aren’t any toilets there either. Well worth the visit, but use toilets before arriving to Walatowa Visitor Center to start the Red Rock Trail hike.

Lovely staff who were very friendly and helpful, providing information and good conversation. The hummingbird cafe attached to the visitor center has EXCELLENT coffee, matcha, and nachos. Perfect refreshments after the Walatowa Slot Canyon hike. (We paid $12/person to hike and it was very worth it)

Very neat stop, gift shop, coffee, museum. Beautiful local gifts, great tasting coffee. We had the lavender honey latte and a Jemez red rock Chile latte if you want to try and spice in your coffee this is a hit.

Stopped here and it has great selection of items to buy and a free museum that is informative. There is a hike across the street that is $3 per person. The hike is about 1.5 miles and so beautiful with the red rocks. It is a must-do.

I liked it! I'll have to check out the trail some time, but the visitor center was nice. I wish the museum extended past 2008 and the mugs available for sale weren't what I hoped for. Bathroom was very clean, but the stall was out of order.