Best known for mesas, sheer-walled canyons, and the ancestral Pueblo dwellings found among them, Bandelier also has over 23,000 acres of designated Wilderness. Some areas are for hiking and camping. It was named for Adolph Bandelier, a 19th-century anthropologist. The most accessible ruins consist of cave rooms hewn out of the soft tuff rock. These houses were built on the talus slopes and formed a circular community village.