Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM

This was a day trip we made from our Santa Fe, NM basecamp; Chaco Culture National Park is like stepping into a real-life history documentary! This remote canyon in New Mexico was home to a thriving civilization way back, from 850 to 1250 AD. You can wander around giant, ancient apartment buildings (seriously, imagine the rent!), called pueblos. Hike or bike through the desert scenery and spot mysterious symbols carved into rocks.

Pueblo Bonito is a large & magnificent D-shaped structure that dominates the landscape. This "beautiful town," as its name translates from Spanish, is the largest and most famous great house in Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Built by the Ancestral Puebloans between 828 and 1126 AD, Pueblo Bonito is a marvel of ancient architecture and it has become the most thoroughly investigated cultural site in Chaco Canyon. Planned and constructed in stages, this was the center of the Chacoan world. That world eventually covered a vast area of the present-day Southwest, including the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, and portions of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.

This is a nice place to walk about and explore and Chaco caters to all types of walkers. You can cruise the nine-mile Canyon Loop Drive in your car, stopping to check out the main ruins up close. Feeling bolder? Hit the backcountry trails and walk where the ancient people walked, exploring hidden ruins and getting a feel for the vastness of this whole place.

WARNING: The park can only be accessed by driving on rough dirt roads. You should visit the National Park Service Website directions page and read their directions to avoid driving on private roads or roads that may be unsafe for non 4WD vehicles. The eastern route (that we took from Santa Fe) includes 8 miles of paved road (CR 7900 & CR 7950) and 13 miles of rough dirt road (CR 7950). The 4.5 miles before entering the park are very rough. This is not a "ground clearance" issue, but it is a very rough route - but worth it to visit!

In the trip menu list below, a "dark filled circle" represents a destination where we stayed, and the "dark filled arrow" items below that circle location, represent the destinations we visited while in that city or location.

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 Trip Overview Page

 Albuquerque, NM

• Sandia Peak Tramway
• Petroglyph National Monument
• Old-Town Albuquerque
• National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

 Alamogordo, NM

• McGinn's PistachioLand Farm
• White Sands National Park

 Carlsbad, NM

• Tunnel Vista Observation Site
• Trestle Depot Recreation Area
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park

 Roswell, NM

• International UFO Museum

 Santa Fe, NM

• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, NM
• Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, NM
• Ojo Santa Fe Spa Resort, NM
• Bradbury Science Museum - Los Alamos, NM
• Los Alamos, NM
• Bandelier National Monument, NM
• Nambé Falls, NM
• Meow Wolf, NM

 Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM

 Bisti Badlands, NM

 Monument Valley

 Grand Canyon, AZ

• Planning Your Grand Canyon Visit
• Grand Canyon South Rim Top Sites and Itineraries
• Grand Canyon El Tovar Hotel

 Sedona, AZ