Acoma is a Native American pueblo in New Mexico, set on top of a mesa in the United States. The village is counted among the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America, and its position high above the surrounding land gives it a striking presence on the horizon.
What a visit is like
Acoma is a living community rather than a site laid out for tourists, and visitors are asked to keep that in mind. The village is reached from the mesa's base, and the setting itself, with the pueblo rising above open desert country, is the main reason people make the trip. Views across the surrounding landscape are part of the experience.
- Setting: a pueblo built on a high mesa in New Mexico
- Character: one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America
- Who it suits: visitors interested in Native American history and in places where people have lived for a very long time
Planning your trip
Because Acoma is an inhabited village, it is worth checking current visiting arrangements before you set out, and approaching the community with respect for its customs and its residents' privacy. Photography and behaviour within the village may be subject to rules set by the community itself.
Acoma sits in New Mexico, a state whose landscapes, mesas and cultural heritage give a visit a particular character. Travellers who include Acoma in a wider trip through the region can combine it with other places that reflect the long presence of Indigenous peoples in the Southwest.