Chaco Canyon

Above, the Chetro Keti great kiva. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The nice thing about Chaco Culture National Historical Park is that visitors can take trails to the ruins of pueblos, kivas and other structures. The trails aren't stenuous, even for geezers like me.

I took a little trip to Chaco Canyon for a one-nighter. I got there yesterday morning and spent the hours before I could check-in at the park's Gallo Campground wandering the park. I decided to do this before the blazing sun heated things up. 

The park has a nice and educational Visitor Center with exhibits on the Chaco people. The structures are about 1,200 to 1,500 years old and some are in remarkably good shape. Visitors can walk through them, but with some boundaries.

The campground is a nice one for dry camping (there's no water, so bring plenty with you) situated next to an Alcove Home ruin. It does have centrally located restrooms and is manned by camp hosts. One additional feature: special pads for tent campers at each site.

According to the National Park Service:

Today the massive buildings of the Ancestral Puebloan people still testify to the organizational and engineering abilities not seen anywhere else in the American Southwest. For a deeper contact with the canyon that was central to thousands of people between 850 and 1250 A.D., come and explore Chaco through guided tours, hiking & biking trails, evening campfire talks, and night sky programs.

There was no campfire program last night, probably due to COVID-19. 

There is the Wetherill Cemetery in the park. A photo of it is below  A little tidbit about it from (gjhikes.com)  :

The Wetherill Cemetery is located in the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. Richard Wetherill, an amateur archaeologist who was credited with the discovery of the Cliff Palace ruin in Mesa Verde, had a homestead in Chaco Canyon that encompassed the Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl and Pueblo del Arroyo great houses. He operated a trading post at the Pueblo Bonito site. Whether by hook or by crook the land passed to the government and became part of the newly created Chaco Canyon National Monument in 1907.

It seems rather fitting that the grave marker is made from the same stone and construction as its surroundings. The spelling of his last name on the headstone differs from anything else that you can find. Richard's wife, Marietta, is interned in the same cemetery as well as a few others. Richard Wetherill was murdered by a Navajo named Chis-Chilling-Begay in 1910. His grave is located at the spot he had picked before his untimely death.

It was an enjoyable little trip since it is only 75 miles from home.

Some photos: