Green chile is one of New Mexico’s official state vegetables, and it figures in the official state question (“Red or green?”). One state legislator has even introduced a bill to make roasting green chile the official state aroma. Moreover, the state has a more or less official green chile cheeseburger trail (newmexico.org/things-to-do/cuisine/culinary-trails/green-chile-cheeseburger-trail/) with dozens of stops.

Truth be told, the green chile cheeseburger isn’t exactly rocket science. Place a good burger with melted cheese on a nice bun and add chopped green chile. That’s the bare-bones recipe, of course. Every establishment tries to put its own twist on the the formula. Lettuce, tomato, onion, and sometimes pickle slices make it onto many variations. Some restaurants use simple chopped green chile; others cook the chiles into a complex green chile sauce.

We weren’t looking for a green chile cheeseburger when we went to Bandelier National Monument (505-672-3861; nps.gov/band), a dramatic one-hour drive from Santa Fe. We got there early enough to snag a parking spot at the Frijoles Canyon visitor center on Entrance Road off Route 4.

Bandelier is one of the most impressive Ancestral Pueblo sites in New Mexico, with ruins dating mainly from 1250-1400 CE. Current thinking suggests the canyon was colonized during the severe droughts that caused the collapse of the Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon cultures, with the earliest houses on the mesa tops. They later spread to the caves in the volcanic tuff canyon walls and to kivas and mud brick constructions along the canyon floor beside the river. From the visitor center, a well-packed roughly 1.25-mile circular trail through Frijoles Canyon takes it all in.

After following the trail, climbing steps up the cliff face, and ascending wooden ladders to peer into the cliff homes, we had definitely worked up an appetite. Fortunately, the snack bar called Sirphey at Bandelier was open. Top item on the menu was the New Mexico True Burger, which consists of Certified Angus Choice chuck beef topped with double cheese, caramelized onion, and green chile. A lettuce and tomato salad was on the side. For our taste, we could have dispensed with some of the onions in favor of more green chile — but it would have been hard to beat the view.