Chaco Culture National Historical Park was established in 1907 by President Roosevelt. 100 years ago! 34,000 acres were set aside to preserve these ancestral Pueblo structures. A great house, which consists of a maze of connected adobe buildings, is one of the main features of Pueblo Bonito. It is huge. You can almost get lost going from one doorway to another (luckily, there are numbered signs to guide the way from one end to the other). Note the different types of doorways, openings and stone layout.
You can choose a self-guided tour or a park ranger tour. In the interest of time, we chose the self-guided tour. There are other pueblo ruins at Chaco such as Casa Rinconado, a 63 foot kiva (a ceremonial space) but none as impressive or as well preserved as Pueblo Bonito. There also various trails at Chaco ranging from 3 miles to over 7 miles.
Remember the Wetherill brothers who found Mesa Verde in Colorado? Richard Wetherill filed a claim on this land and helped excavate Pueblo Bonito. Thousands of these artifacts ended up at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Sadly, Richard was killed in the canyon in 1910 and is buried here.
Chaco, off Highway 44/550, is in SW New Mexico. Rather remote, there are 16 miles of dirt road enroute.
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