Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument receives international honors

Story and photos by BLM New Mexico

Recently, BLM-New Mexico's Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument received the distinguished honor of being named a winner in the inaugural TripSavvy Editors' Choice Awards in the 2018 Beaches and Natural Attractions category. This is a brand-new travel, restaurant, and hotel awards program.

Winners were evaluated through both editor-testing and machine-learning with TripSavvy's travel editors making the final call on the selections. The list of winners represents the best in travel, tourism, and hospitality worldwide. More than 60,000 businesses across the world were reviewed for the 2018 awards, with only two percent passing TripSavvy's editors' rigorous testing and standards.

TripSavvy's award-winning data team, including six Ph.D. backed scientists, use machine-learning technology to pinpoint outstanding businesses from data across the web, including reviews across the internet and audience metrics from TripSavvy.  They then match these against TripSavvy's expert content to identify those that outrank competitors in quality, considering elements such as customer service, value and category fit.  Finally, a team of seasoned TripSavvy editors and writers scour the results, highlighting the most special, noteworthy, and trustworthy businesses.

The BLM manages the Monument in cooperation with the Pueblo de Cochiti.  With hundreds of cone-shaped rocks jutting up into the sky (some reaching upwards of 90 feet), this natural attraction in New Mexico seems anything but natural, which only adds to its beauty and awe factor. Located only about an hour outside of both Santa Fe and Albuquerque, TripSavvy bills the Monument as "a must-see geologic attraction on a trip to either city." Besides bird-watching and plant identification, it also offers hiking trails that range from easy and wheelchair-accessible to more difficult options that lead hikers through narrow, winding canyons and up a 630-foot climb that opens to panoramic views of the Sandia Mountains and Rio Grande Valley.

BLM Albuquerque District Manager Danita Burns said, "We are very pleased to be recognized as an outstanding natural attraction. The BLM manages the Monument in cooperation with the Pueblo de Cochiti, and are excited to share this honor. We hope it will inspire new visitation and bring back folks who may not have visited for a while."