Bandelier Backcountry to Painted Cave

Bandelier National Monument (Frijoles Canyon visitor center, near Los Alamos)

Bandelier National Monument protects more than 70 miles of trail across canyons and mesas; Backpacker describes the route below as crossing the Pajarito Plateau. Most visitors stay near the Frijoles Canyon cliff dwellings, but the backcountry holds Painted Cave, an alcove in Capulin Canyon with numerous pictographs that the Park Service calls a unique archeological site.

The Park Service says reaching Painted Cave from the visitor center is 22 miles or more round trip, crosses Alamo Canyon twice, and is better as an overnight or two-night backpack than a day hike.

The hike

Backpacker’s 2011 route leaves the visitor center for the Frijoles Canyon trailhead, climbs to the mesa top, and heads 2.2 miles across the plateau, crossing Lummis Canyon, to the rim of Alamo Canyon, which it describes as about 500 feet deep. After crossing Alamo, the route passes the Yapashi Pueblo site, a ring of boulders marking an ancestral village, and bears toward Capulin Canyon. Backpacker’s camp was in Capulin Canyon’s Zone D, on a bank a few feet above the creek. On day two it followed cairns south about 2 miles and took a short spur to Painted Cave, whose red pictographs it describes as about 100 to 700 years old. Entry to the cave is prohibited.

That description predates the 2011 Las Conchas Fire and the floods that followed. The Park Service now says most trails to Capulin Canyon have been repaired but only a small section of the canyon bottom has been, so most of it is a route along the creek. PMags, who backpacked here in February 2014, found burnt logs and eroded trails in the canyon bottoms and warned that “trails are a little hard to follow at times.” He camped in a canyon zone each night, visiting Painted Cave in the afternoon and returning up Capulin Canyon to camp. A 2018 Jan’s Jaunts trip on a 30-mile loop noted that the Capulin Canyon route follows a cairned wash that splits into side canyons, making wrong turns easy, and that flat campsites were hard to find on long stretches of the canyon.

Because the 2026 compendium closes Capulin Canyon south of camping zone D to camping and overnight travel, plan to camp in or north of that zone and visit Painted Cave as a day trip from camp.

The Park Service warns that mesa tops can top 100°F in summer, late-summer lightning makes them dangerous, and rattlesnakes are common in riparian areas and on rocky slopes. It also lists the Dome Trailhead, off Forest Road 142, as a shorter approach of 14.5 miles round trip, closed January through mid-April.

For another Jemez-area overnight, see San Pedro Parks via the Vacas Trail.

Tips

Get your permit in person at the visitor center; the Park Service asks for it at least 24 hours before your start date.
Ask about water before you go; carry enough to get from Capulin Creek to the next source.
Borrow a bear canister from the visitor center if you don’t have one.
Leave dogs at home. Pets aren’t allowed on park trails.
Respect the sites. Jan’s Jaunts notes the Stone Lions shrine is still in use; leave any offerings undisturbed.

Camping

A free backcountry permit is required for any overnight stay. The 2026 compendium requires all food and scented items to be stored in an approved bear-resistant container, prohibits campfires (containerized fuel stoves only) and smoking in the backcountry, limits stays to three consecutive nights at one site, bans camping on archeological sites or in caves, and closes the areas listed under needs review to camping and overnight travel. Pets, bicycles, and pack animals are not allowed on park trails.

Inside Intel: Backpacker’s 2011 trip camped in Capulin Canyon’s Zone D on a bank a few feet above the creek, and suggested an up-canyon site in dry years. PMags camped in designated canyon zones, each about a mile long, in 2014. Both accounts predate the 2024 flood; ask rangers which zones have usable ground and water now.

Trail facts

Distance: 22 miles or more round trip (NPS)
Route type: Out and back, crossing Alamo Canyon twice
Difficulty: Strenuous
Campsites: Backcountry zones; Capulin Canyon zone D or north (closed south of zone D)
Water: Capulin Creek (check with rangers); otherwise carry it
Permits: Free backcountry permit, in person at the visitor center
Food storage: Bear-resistant container required (loaners available)
Fires: Prohibited; stoves only
Dogs: Not allowed on trails
Trailhead: Frijoles Canyon visitor center area
Last verified: October 11, 2026

The Lowdown

Hunting for flat ground in Capulin Canyon:

A 2018 trip found flat campsites hard to come by on long stretches of Capulin Canyon. Our tips cover pad inflation, foam underlayers, and sleeping head uphill on sloped ground.

Read the fixes →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.