Kokopelli's Cave Bed & Breakfast

Kokopelli's Cave Bed & Breakfast is a privately owned luxury cliff dwelling located north of Farmington, New Mexico near the Mesa Verde National Monument.

From the cave and the cliff tops you have an unparalleled view of beautiful southwest sunsets over the four states of the Four Corners area.
 

We do not serve meals at Kokopelli's, but the refrigerator and cabinets are well stocked with breakfast materials and fruit. For special occasions, dinner meals can be catered. We have two local channels on the TV, with VCR and DVD player for further evening entertainment. We have a Jacuzzi with waterfall shower for relaxing.

To the west you can see Shiprock and the Chuska mountains on the Navajo Indian reservation in northwest New Mexico. To the west and northwest you see the Carrizo Mountains in northeastern Arizona. To the northwest you can see the Ute Mountains and to the North loom the snow capped La Plata and San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.

The cave itself is 70' below the surface. The entrance is located in the cliff face and is reached by walking down a sloping path and intermittent steps cut into the sandstone along the pathway. There is a short ladder at the bottom of the path with three wooden steps that land you on the flagstone porch and the front entrance to Kokopelli's "digs." You really have to want to come to Kokopelli's cave!

This 1,650 square foot, one-bedroom cave home carved from a 65-million year old sandstone formation 280 feet above the La Plata River is furnished with plush carpeting, Southwestern style furniture and accents, hot and cold running water, a well-appointed kitchen including microwave and washer/dryer, cascading waterfall-style shower, and a flagstone hot tub!

The cave was originally intended to be a unique geologic office for Bruce Black who is a consulting geologist.

The cave is not a natural cave. The original excavation was contracted for, and the cave was blasted out, in 1980. In the early 1980's the father-son team of Bruce (the elder) and his son Bruce (the younger) moved their drilling rig onto the cliffs above the excavation and drilled three holes into the cave for ventilation, electrical access lines, and chimney.
By the fall of 1996, the structure was ready for occupation and Bruce (younger) and his wife lived in the cave until 1997. Bruce (the elder) and Margie Black began sharing the cave as a bed (really the whole house) and continental breakfast in June 1997.

Please Note: Guests are required to check in at the Manager's home before attempting to find the cave by these directions.

Depending on your physical condition and age, access is not necessarily easy. You have to want to get to Kokopelli's Cave. From west 30th Street in Farmington, New Mexico, turn north onto the new Pinon Hills bypass. Go one and four tenths (1.4) of a mile and turn left onto county road 1980 (dirt). This is the "glade" road. Continue north for three tenths (.35) of a mile. As you round a curve turn left off of the "glade" road and pass through an iron gate. Proceed two tenths (.2) of a mile up the small hill to the first fork in the road at the San Juan Archers archery range. Turn right at this fork. Continue on two tenths (.25) of a mile up this road passing under a power line and continue to a road junction. On the other side of the road junction will be a gas well location. Cross the road and go straight for only 50 feet. Here there will be several small dirt roads meandering off to the left (west). Take the middle one. Drive slowly from here on because the roads are rough! Follow this small dirt trail one tenth (.1) of a mile to a cable fence. Drive west on the south side of this fence as far as you feel comfortable. If you are in a conventional car, you will need to park and lock your car here in what we call the upper parking area.

(If you are in a four wheel drive, you can turn southwest following the trails until you see the gate that lets you through the cable fence. Proceed through the gate and down to the lower level parking area until you are near the vertical steel pipe. Park your 4 wheel anywhere around here. The main trail to the cave is just a few steps to the north.)

From the upper parking area you need to step over the cable fence to the north side and walk northwest out onto the point of sandstone rocks. From here you will see a marked trail leading you past a power pole and down to the lower parking area. Follow the foot path and walk down hill carefully.

The jump off for the main trail to the cave starts at the north end of the lower parking area just north of the vertical steel pipe. There is only one trail. As you can see, there are hand rails at several locations along the trail. The trail descends approximately 70 vertical feet down to the cave entrance. This is the equivalent of an seven story building.

If you are starting from the upper parking area, add another 30' or three more stones. In your ascent or descent from the lower parking area you will climb or go down approximately 75 steps cut into the sandstone and will cover an additional 110 steps on the inclined surface of the path between the steps. There are an additional three steps on the final ladder at the entrance to the cave. (Add an additional 35 to 115 steps on the access paths to the parking areas depending on what parking area you are in.)

As we said, you really have to want to come to Kokopelli's cave! Remember to take your time, it's just as long but harder coming out. If you are coming with luggage for an overnight, you can see it's an advantage to pack light because there are no elevators.

• CNN News
• CBS Morning Show
• Oprah Winfrey Show
• KOB and KOBF-TV channels
• HGTV (Dream Builders: Episode DRB-801)
• Mountain and High Desert Hideaways by Gladys Montgomery
• Land Rover Lifestyle Magazine (Jan/Feb 2006)
• Ultimates DVD - Top 10 of Most Unusual Places to Stay in the World (March 2006)
• Christian Science Monitor (Sept. 15, 2006), Frommer's New Mexico
• Farmington Daily Times
• Other local and national AP-associated newspapers.