3 giorni / 55 miglia / 2 ore e 52 minuti
Explore the monumental structures and breathtaking landscape at Chaco, a thriving regional center for the ancestral Pueblo people from 850 to 1250 CE.
Follow up with a visit to Alien Throne, Three Wise Men, Giant Mushroom, Chocolate Penguin King, Red Dinosaur Egg and many other unearthly hoodoos.
Rent an RV and skip the 3-hour round trip to the nearest hotel.
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Giorno 1
Chaco Culture National Historical Park Visitor Center
Make your first stop the Visitor Center. From there, a 9-mile loop road accesses five major Chacoan sites, including Pueblo Bonito. Guidebooks for these sites can be purchased at the park store inside the visitor center. Pets are not permitted on these front country trails.
8:30 - 0.0 miglia / 1 minuto - 8:30
Una Vida is one of Chaco's earliest great houses built around 850 CE (Common Era). Una Vida exists today in a near-natural state of preservation, free from major vandalism, and with only minor excavations and preservation repairs. A one-mile roundtrip (including petroglyphs) trail begins at the NE corner of the Visitor Center parking lot. Portions are rocky, steep, and slippery when wet.
9:15 - 2.0 miglia / 4 minuti - 9:19
Hungo Pavi is an unexcavated Chacoan great house (monumental public building) containing over 150 rooms, a great kiva, and an enclosed plaza. It is a good example of what Chacoan sites look like without excavations--covered with a protective blanket of wind-blown sand and native vegetation.
9:49 - 1.7 miglia / 4 minuti - 9:54
Pueblo Bonito is the most thoroughly investigated cultural site in Chaco Canyon and visitors are permitted to walk through the original rooms of the structure. Planned and constructed in stages between 850 CE to 1150 CE (Common Era) by ancestral Pueblo people, 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. For over 300 years, Chacoan Culture united many diverse peoples within its sphere of influence.
The trail through Pueblo Bonito is 0.6 mile, roundtrip. It is graveled, and climbs several short, steep rises.10:24 - 0 miglia / 0 - 10:24
Chetro Ketl is the second largest Chacoan great house. It covers more than 3 acres, and contains a great kiva and elevated kivas. As builders constructed second and third stories, they created an elevated plaza that stands 12 feet above the canyon floor.
The walk through Chetro Ketl offers numerous examples of the remodeling, updating, or repurposing.
The trail through Chetro Ketl is ½ mile, roundtrip. It is graveled, and climbs several short, steep rises.10:54 - 0.6 miglia / 1 minuto - 10:55
Kin Kletso is a Chacoan great house located within Chaco Culture National Historical Park, on the 9-mile Canyon Loop Drive alongside the other major sites. It is known for solar alignments, and the park has previously held special events there for occasions like the winter solstice sunrise.
11:25 - 0.0 miglia / 1 minuto - 11:25
The great house of Pueblo del Arroyo was planned and constructed in two short phases, from approximately 1065 to 1150 CE. Though smaller than earlier great houses, the structure has many typical great house attributes. But unlike other great houses in the canyon, it was built away from cliff walls, in the open near the arroyo. Another unusual feature is the tri-wall kiva. Only ten tri-wall kivas have been found in the Southwest – three of those are at Aztec Ruins National Monument. The one found at Pueblo del Arroyo is the only one in Chaco Canyon.
The trail through Pueblo del Arroyo is 1/4 mile, roundtrip. It is graveled, and climbs several short, steep rises.11:55 - 0.6 miglia / 1 minuto - 11:57
Casa Rinconada contains a stand alone Great Kiva, as well as remnants of smaller dwellings. It also is the site of different solar alignments throughout the year.
The trail through Casa Rinconada and the nearby villages is ½ mile long, round trip. It is graveled, and climbs several short, steep rises. While the grand public buildings like Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl were in use, smaller, more typical villages existed alongside. This trail will introduce you to the diversity of architecture that existed at the center of Chacoan culture.12:27 - 4.9 miglia / 8 minuti - 12:36
Wijiji is a later-period great house built around 1100 CE (common era). Wijiji differs from sites like Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl in that it appears to have been built at once rather than several building phases. When visiting, take note of the exceptional symmetry of the building and the uniform masonry. Common Chacoan features such as enclosed plazas and great kivas are absent at Wijiji.
14:36 - 0.6 miglia / 2 minuti - 14:39
Giorno 2
8:00 - 5.5 miglia / 14 minuti - 8:14
This trail provides dramatic overlook views of Kin Kletso, Pueblo Bonito, and Chetro Ketl, enters Pueblo Alto and New Alto, passes by Chacoan stairs, ramps, and roads, and affords panoramic views of the San Juan Basin. This is an excellent introduction to the scope of the Chaco world.
11:44 - 0.7 miglia / 1 minuto - 11:45
This trail climbs to a high point on South Mesa and leads to the Chacoan great house Tsin Kletsin. Spectacular views of the surrounding landscape are visible at the site. The loop trail descends into South Gap and re-enters the canyon near Casa Rinconada.
14:45 - 5.2 miglia / 11 minuti - 14:57
Giorno 3
8:00 - 25.3 miglia / 1 ora e 23 minuti - 9:23
Valley of Dreams in New Mexico is best known for Alien Throne, a striking rock formation sculpted by wind and water. The surrounding badlands are filled with hoodoos and unusual rock formations shaped by erosion over time.
11:23 - 1.3 miglia / 8 minuti - 11:31
Valley of Dreams East is a rarely visited area of hoodoos located along the edge of the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, directly east of Valley of Dreams in New Mexico. Its unusual rock formations, sculpted by wind and rain, include hoodoos topped with stone wings of various sizes.
13:31 - 6.2 miglia / 29 minuti - 14:01
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness is a remote region of strikingly eroded rock formations in the high desert of northwestern New Mexico. Its mostly flat, sandy landscape is crossed by shallow washes that drain toward the San Juan River.
16:01 - 0.0 miglia / 1 minuto - 16:01
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Dispersed Camping
Ah‑Shi‑Sle‑Pah Wilderness in northwestern New Mexico features rolling badlands, colorful mudstone and sandstone hoodoos, petrified wood, and scientifically important fossils dating to the late Cretaceous. This desert landscape of sagebrush, piñon‑juniper, and Great Basin scrub offers intrepid visitors the opportunity to experience rugged badlands and paleontological heritage firsthand. The area is remote and largely undeveloped to preserve its wilderness character. Primitive, dispersed camping is permitted. There are no facilities within the Wilderness Area.