Chaco Culture National Historical Park

A remote and fascinating location for experiencing ancient cultural sites in New Mexico. A long gravel and unimproved road is used to access the park, but at least in dry conditions easily accommodates standard autos 20-30 mph. Once in the park, most sites are easily accessible from pull-off parking areas. Trails are available for those who want a more immersive desert experience with the pueblo ruins. Well organized by NPS. I did not use the campground but am certain the nights are fantastic for sky viewing in some of the darkest skies in the US.

Let's talk about the dirt road, to get to this site. Its HORRID. Its not just a typical dirt road, its grooved with lines that make it extra bumpy. The whole time, you feel like your car is going to be shaken apart. I'm not entirely sure my car did make it out unscathed, it rattles now. It was nerve wracking and I did think about turning around. For the love of man, please pave this road. Now that that's out of the way. The site is huge. There is sooo much to explore and I doubt I even came close to 1/2 of it. Bring tons of extra water, especially if it's hot. I recommend coming during cooler months so that it is more enjoyable. They do have campsites here and if you want to see everything, you could definitely get a site. I imagine you would need a full day to see all of it, but as I said, I only saw about half. Make sure you stop at the visitor center to get a map.

Pretty cool place to check out. $25 per vehicle or 10 per person. A few sites right off the road but a few hikes you can do. You could spend a few days here but 1 day is sufficient. It was fairly empty when we came at 10 AM on a Sunday. Your ticket is good for a week so you can come back. Note there is no gas for 20 miles so make sure to come prepared. Restrooms and water are available at the visitors center. Don’t forget a hat and sun screen!

First, stop by the visitor center. They are all super nice and know the area well. We always appreciate staff who are as excited about the area as we are. It’s a very simple place. You can drive the loop and see everything from your car if you want. Lots of hiking areas. If you only have 2-4 hours, stop and walk at Pueblo Bonito. There’s a loop you can walk to the right or if you’re in a hurry walk to the left. It’s the bigger of the two ruins, you can walk through it and see inside. It’s probably one of the bigger ruins sites we seen.

What an amazing place. To finally come back after 50 years and bringing my wife was so exciting. The Chaco Culture National Historical Park Visitor Center was an important first stop. The rangers were friendly and very informative. We purchased several great books are the archeology and history of the pueblos and Chaoans. We did Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Bonito, Kin Kletso and did the hike/scramble to the Pueblo Bonito Overlook. Unfortunately, the sun and heat became an issue, so we did not continue on to Pueblo Alto. I was pleased to see the park so well staffed and maintained. Definitely worth the time and effort to visit. A great point to start your journey to the other pueblo outliers.

Worth the effort to see. Ranger talks were a big help to understanding the history of the site. Only drawback was there were no exhibits on display in the visitor center which was disappointing. County maintained dirt road from 550 was not bad. The last section of roughly 4 miles that is not county maintained was a little rough but passable with no problem.

One of the few unesco sites in the west of the states. The park consists several building complexes of ancient Pueblo people. Amazing history and architecture and beautiful scenery. However, the road to the site is quite bumpy.

We camped at the Chaco Canyon Gallo campground this past Friday nite. We went to see the nite sky and stars as it has been called THE best place to see the stars in America... and IT IS!!! Absolutely NO ambient light, it was the BEST view I've ever had in 70 yrs of stargazing from all over the world!! . Gazing up at the Milky Way, stretching from horizon to horizon, it seemed to have a 3D appearance, depth I've never seen before. Words can't adequately describe it...you MUST experience it for yourself. Next day we went to see the ruins, not expecting much, and were very pleasantly surprised to find that, unlike Mesa Verde- which we also went to this weekend, and where everything is now roped off, don't touch, can't even go to the main ruins w/o paying an $8 tour fee... Chaco ruins are mostly all open & free. We climbed thru the tunnels, narrow hallways, big & small rooms...really got to explore the ruins ... as I remember doing at Mesa Verde a half century ago. So evidently there are just sooooo many people now coming to see Mesa Verde that it's now highly restricted access, costing $8 to look but don't touch, etc. And the ugly beauty of Chaco is that the access to the canyon is over a few miles of dirt road & the last 3-4 miles washboard ruts that will rattle your teeth driving there. B4 we went to Mesa Verde, we were cussing out the deplorable road conditions... but if those conditions are keeping away the droves of tourists that have turned Mesa Verde into a pay to look don't touch "museum " exhibit, then keep those roads nasty, keep the multitudes away to keep Chaco interactive, touchable, explorable, FREE! And by the by, Mesa Verde had 200+ rooms in the big ruin.... Chaco had over 600+ rooms, and cool petroglyphs to hike & see. At MV you can look thru an outside window & see a couple connecting rooms IF you pay $8 ...at CC you can crawl thru the window, go into the other rooms, down the hallway, explore to your hearts content Free. But wait!! I don't want to entice y'all to CC...PLEEZE! stay away, keep it pristine... uncrowded, touchable, explorable , plenty of open campsites. Check out the PBS show, The Mystery of Chaco Canyon... that show tells and shows all y'all need to know or see... so y'all just stay home now, ya hear me?

One of the best chacoan culture sites . Chaco canyon has self-guided tours of chacoan culture. Well laid out and marked pathways and roadways to visit the ancient attractions. Well maintained restrooms and several walking trails to various ruins and petroglyphs. Can be a bit dicey if the weather is wet. Always advisable to check current road conditions into chaco canyon. On the day we went as the natives call it monsoon conditions existed. We were able to visit the park and take a 6 mi walk to visit ruins and the diverse plant life.

An amazingly preserved series of ruins that are seen from a 9-mile loop, after 20 miles in a rough dirt road. It takes about 45 minutes on the dirt road to get to the visitor center but it is worth it. You’re able to walk amongst the Great House ruins, that is at the farthest point on the loop. We were also about to see a small herd of elk on the loop. Masks are required at the visitor center and this park has a fee, or you need a pass.