The Chaco Culture National Historic Park strives to preserve and showcase magnificent structures of the Chaco peoples who lived and farmed this region.  Great Houses and Kivas are scattered across the canyon with a consistent layout and relationship that provide clues pointing to a complex social structure of the inhabitants.  Structures seem to be oriented to align with celestial events and movements.  What was the tie with the heavens?  Turquoise, shells, McCaw feathers and bones, copper bells all seem to indicate a wide trade network.  It is an impressive place and the stories they tell quite compelling.  I wonder though if time will reveal new information and if one were to return in 50 or 100 years the story told by archeologists and anthropologists might be very different.

The park is worth the visit but it is terrible to get to. It is 100+ miles from anywhere and the roads that carry you there are rough, rocky, potholed, wash boarded, and when wet, impassably slimy clay.  The last 13 miles take over an hour of dodging and weaving.  Thankfully there is very little traffic to contend with since the only thing back there are cows, sheep, horses and the park.

Check out this trail. It is steps, sort of, up a crack in the cliff and it leads to a great overview of many of the pueblos.