Chaco Culture Historical Park is located in northwestern New Mexico.  It's a remote spot, accessible only by 13 miles or more of dusty, bumpy dirt road, and there are basically no services for quite a few miles more than that in any direction.

But it's worth the trip.  Magnificent ruins, including the world famous Pueblo Bonito, are scattered throughout the canyon and atop the rims.  The largest structures are easily accessible from the paved park loop road, but as with all parks, some real treats can be found for those who venture a little farther away from the main road.  Most of the ruins can be thoroughly explored.  I highly recommend any of the trails in the park.

The ruins were built approximately 800 to 1200 years ago, during a time when the canyon was the heart of a bustling community of Anasazi settlements, connected by a sophisticated network of roads.  At its height, thousands of people lived in the vicinity of the canyon.  Mysteriously, these folks abandoned the area between seven and eight hundred years ago and basically disappeared.

The various styles of masonry throughout the ruins are interesting to compare.  There are also inscriptions on some of the bricks from American visitors of a hundred years ago and more.

Pueblo Bonito dominates the ruins and was a huge half-moon shaped building, 4 or more stories tall, which housed hundreds of residents, including many of the enigmatic circular kiva pits.  Much of it is still intact.

The canyon itself has a sublime beauty of its own.  It's not deep or dramatic, but it's so remote that there is a serenity that you don't find near modern cities.  Other than the park facilities and visitors, no evidence of modern civilization is visible from the park.  There is almost no light pollution in this entire region, so at night you get treated to a vivid sky full of stars.

I like to go in the spring, when the nights and mornings are cold, but the days warm up nicely.  The area is mostly open desert with very few trees or shade.

Nearby are Bandelier National Monument, El Morro and El Malpais National Monuments, Acoma Sky City, Petroglyph National Monument, Tent Rocks National Monument, Albuquerque, Canyon De Chelly, Four Corners, and much more.

Chaco Culture official NPS map

copyright 2009 Jeff Pistana