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Chaco Culture National Historical Park, located in northwest New Mexico, protects several Ancestral Puebloan great houses populated between 850 and 1250. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Introduction to Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Chaco Culture National Historical Park is located in a remote canyon in northwest New Mexico. Between 900 and 1150, it was a major cultural center for Ancestral Puebloans. They built several major complexes along a 9-mile (14 kilometer) stretch of the canyon. These were the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century.
The first documented expedition through the area was in 1823, when the Mexican governor of New Mexico, José Antonio Vizcarra, made reference to the ruins in the canyon. Other descriptions were recorded by American trader Josiah Gregg (1806-1850) in 1832 and the Washington Expedition in 1849. The canyon was so remote, it was rarely visited for the next 50 years.
After the Smithsonian visited the site in the 1870s, formal excavations began at Pueblo Bonito under the American Museum of Natural History in 1896. Archaeologists spent 5 summers there, sending over 60,000 artifacts back to New York.
Efforts to protect the canyon began in 1902 under archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett (1865-1946), who mapped many Chacoan sites. He also helped pass the Antiquities Act of 1906, which granted the President the authority to establish National Monuments. Chaco Culture National Monument was created on March 11, 1907, by Theodore Roosevelt.
The park expanded in 1949 and again on December 19, 1980, when 13,000 acres were added. That same day, it was re-designated as a National Historical Park. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
To date, over 4,000 archaeological sites have been discovered within the park’s boundaries. Only a small percentage have been excavated.
Planning Your Trip to Chaco Culture National Historical Park
If you plan to explore the park in full, give yourself at least a couple days. We spent a half day visiting the archaeological sites along the loop road.
Before getting into some of the trails and highlights of the park, here’s some essential information to help you plan your trip:
Getting to Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Chaco Culture is a remote park that can only be accessed down very rough unpaved roads. The roads are unmaintained and can be impassable after bad weather. GPS often leads cars astray down dangerous roads, so it’s best to follow directions from the official website. The nearest major city is Farmington (74 miles), while Albuquerque and Santa Fe are both about 3 hours away.
Entrance Fees to Chaco Culture National Historical Park
The entrance fee to Chaco Culture National Historical Park varies depending on your mode of transportation. Prices are current as of October 2025:
- For private vehicles, it’s US$25.
- For motorcycles, it’s US$20.
- For visitors entering on bicycle or on foot, it’s US$15 for adults and free for kids under 16.
- Holders of any interagency pass are covered for one vehicle or four per person fees.
Entrance fees are good for seven days. The entry point is cashless, so you’ll need a debit or credit card to pay the fee. The park is open year-round. Archaeological sites are open daily. Check the official website for more info.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park Visitor Center
The visitor center is open daily from 9am to 5pm. It contains information, a museum, and a small store. Trail guides for each archaeological site are available for purchase as well.
Camping at Chaco Culture National Historical Park
The Gallo Campground costs US$20 per night (as of October 2025). It has 26 reservable sites and is located about a mile east of the visitor center. Reservations are recommended.
Visiting the Archaeological Sites
There are 15 major archaeological sites you can visit at Chaco Culture.
Five are easily accessible, located along the nine-mile loop road:
Eight others are located along hiking trails. You just have to sign in at the trailheads:
- The Una Vida Trail is an easy one-mile round-trip trail from the visitor center to Una Vida and some petroglyphs.
- The Pueblo Alto Trail is a 5.5-mile loop that takes you past Kin Kletso, Pueblo Alto, and New Alto. The trailhead is at the Pueblo del Arroyo parking area.
- The Peñasco Blanco Trail is 7.5 miles round-trip that takes you past Casa Chiquita (3 miles round-trip) and ends at Peñasco Blanco. There are also two spur trails leading to pictographs and petroglyphs. The trailhead is at the Pueblo del Arroyo parking area.
- The South Mesa Trail is a 4.5-mile loop that takes you past Tsin Kletsin (3 miles round-trip). The trailhead is at Casa Rinconada.
- The Wijiji Trail is a 3.8-mile round-trip hike near the campground. It’s mostly flat.
Two more archaeological sites are located within the park boundaries but outside Chaco Canyon. Both are open to the public. Check at the visitor center for directions:
- Kin Klizhin is accessible by vehicle down a rough dirt road. A high-clearance vehicle with 4WD is recommended.
- Pueblo Pintado is about 15 miles from the main park unit along a good dirt road. You shouldn’t have a problem getting there in a standard car.
Activities at Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Although Chaco Culture is intended to be a self-guided experience, there are ranger-guided tours and programs. There are also night sky programs periodically during the summer. Check at the visitor center for current information during your visit. All tours and programs are weather-permitting and based upon ranger availability.
Safety at Chaco Culture National Historical Park
The most important way to prepare for Chaco Culture is to take enough water. Heat and high altitude can be a deadly combination. Potable water is available at the visitor center. Also, watch out for rattlesnakes along the trails and wear appropriate footwear for hiking.
Hungo Pavi
Hungo Pavi is the first great house on the nine-mile loop road in the park. It’s two miles from the visitor center. It’s possible to walk through the site on a short ¼-mile round-trip trail.
Hungo Pavi contained over 150 rooms, a great kiva, and an enclosed plaza. It was built in the 11th century and is the third largest great house in the park. The D-shaped structure measured 872 feet (266 meters) in circumference.
The site remains unexcavated and looks much like it did when it was rediscovered on the Washington Expedition in 1849. It’s a good chance to see what a great house looks like without any excavation.
We joined a ranger guided hike to learn more. He pointed out several features, such as a few original logs used in the construction as well as the brickwork. He also demonstrated how the masonry design added strength and stability to the structure.
Chetro Ketl
Chetro Ketl is the second great house on the nine-mile loop road through the park. A ½-mile round-trip trail takes visitors to the site.
Chetro Ketl was built between 990 and 1075, and was completely abandoned by about 1250. It was rediscovered in 1823 by José Antonio Vizcarra. Excavations took place under Edgar Lee Hewett from 1920 to 1921 and again between 1929 and 1935.
Chetro Ketl is the second biggest great house at Chaco Culture with about 400 rooms. It was the largest in terms of area, covering nearly three acres. It was four stories high but only three remain.
The east wall of the D-shaped structure is 280 feet (85 meters) long while the north wall is over 450 feet (140 meters) long. The entire perimeter is 1,540 feet (470 meters). An estimated 50 million sandstone blocks and 26,00 trees were used during construction.
A raised plaza with a colonnade are two features completely unique to the great houses in Chaco Canyon and Ancestral Puebloan architecture as a whole. These features may indicate Mesoamerican influence. The colonnade was 93 feet (28 meters) long and contained 13 columns.
The site contained 12 kivas. One was the great kiva, which dates between 1062 and 1090. It’s 62.5 feet (19.1 meters) in diameter and the walls are between 2.5 feet (76 centimeters) to 3 feet (91 centimeters) thick.
Pueblo Bonito
Pueblo Bonito is the third great house along the nine-mile loop road and the most important archaeological site at Chaco Culture. There’s a ½-mile trail through the site.
Lt. James Simpson (1813-1883) rediscovered the site during a military expedition in 1849. The first excavations took place from 1896 to 1900 under rancher Richard Wetherill (1858-1910) and George H. Pepper (1873-1924) of the American Museum of Natural History. Wetherill, who had rediscovered Cliff Palace (now at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado) in 1888, was murdered at Chaco Canyon and is buried near Pueblo Bonito. Further excavations occurred from 1920 to 1927 led by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society.
Pueblo Bonito, which covers about 3 acres, was built in several stages between 850 and 1150. It contained about 800 rooms and stood 4 or 5 stories high. Walls were up to 3 feet (91 centimeters) thick.
The D-shaped structure was divided into two sections with a wall dividing the center of the plaza. A great kiva sat on either side of the wall, and over 30 other kivas have been found.
Archaeologists aren’t sure if the structure was meant to be a village or ceremonial site. Only a small portion seemed to have served as living quarters and excavations haven’t revealed trash middens found at other residential sites. Furthermore, only 50 to 60 burials were found there. Artifacts discovered include ceramic jars, pottery shards, wooden flutes, and Mexican cacao from at least 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) away.
Pueblo del Arroyo
Pueblo del Arroyo is located on a short dead-end road off the nine-mile loop drive, just past Pueblo Bonito. It’s 5 ½ miles from the visitor center. A ¼ mile round-trip trail takes visitors through the site, which is the fourth largest great house in the park. It takes about 30-45 minutes to properly visit.
Pueblo del Arroyo was built between 1025 and 1125. It was excavated from 1923 to 1926 by archaeologist Neil Judd (1887-1976) under the Smithsonian Institution. He believed it was built by a group of people who moved from Pueblo Bonito due to overcrowding, but his theory has not been proven. Another excavation led by Leland Abel and Gordon Vivian of the National Park Service took place in 1950.
The site had about 300 rooms and 14 kivas. No great kiva has been found. Strangely, this great house was built in the middle of the canyon facing east while others were built near the north wall of the canyon facing south.
Casa Rinconada
Casa Rinconada is the fifth and final archaeological site along the nine-mile loop road through the park. It’s about six miles from the visitor center. A ½-mile loop trail winds through the site. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to properly visit. For a longer hike, the trail connects to the South Mesa Trail, which leads to Tsin Kletsin.
While most of the other major sites in the park are great houses, Casa Rinconada is a collection of small villages and an isolated great kiva. They were built around the same time as the great houses.
Casa Rinconada was excavated from 1930 to 1931. It was partially reconstructed in 1933, while the National Park Service capped the outer walls in 1955.
The great kiva at Casa Rinconada is the largest that has been excavated at Chaco Culture National Historical Park. It has a diameter of 64 feet (20 meters) and features a masonry firebox, an inner bench, four roof-supporting large seating pits, masonry vaults, and 34 niches. There’s also a 39-foot (12-meter) underground passage that may have been used during ceremonies.
