Blogs from Chaco Culture National Historic Park, New Mexico, United States, North America

Leaving Ghost Ranch is difficult, we want to stay but we’ve used the slack in our schedule in Santa Fe and Taos and the road to Chaco is long and difficult so leave we must. The drive to Chaco is long – it’s difficult to make all the correct turns and maps and GPS frankly suck sometimes. I sit with my compass app open trying to locate some of the roads we need. Then we hit THE road into Chaco. This is the good, north road. Bone rattling is the way to describe it. At the end of the road is the center of the early civilization of this country – the heart and soul of the ancients who became the Puebloans. I am not sure whether I have any original superlatives to use after 9 ... read more

People visit the pueblo ruins of the southwest for many reasons. Some want to explore the history while others seek pretty pictures, and almost everything in between. Like few other sites, Chaco Canyon divides the history seekers from everyone else. Getting there requires a difficult drive on dirt roads; to a canyon that is wide, low, and decidedly unphotogenic. Chaco would be a mere footnote in this landscape except that it contains ruins on a scale found nowhere else. They attract knowledgeable visitors like an ancient El Dorado. From the moment I planned this trip, I knew I had to make it there. The rain gods ... read more

Keeping with the tradition of dragging the children and half of our possessions into the wild blue yonder during the worst possible Spring weather, we pointed the truck and newly obtained pop-up camper into the 30mph headwind this weekend and headed south to new pastures. While we are well-versed in the lay of Utah, Arizona and Colorado lands, New Mexico presents a large blank area on our mental maps. Perhaps it is the less-than-inspiring visual gauntlet between our house and said destinations that has thus far deterred extensive exploration to the south, perhaps it's the easy attractiveness of the wild and beautiful spaces in every other direction. For whatever reason, we just don't get down that way very often. So we headed for Chaco or more distinctly, the Chaco Culture National Historic Park. While cathedrals were ... read more