Why Visit Chaco Canyon In New Mexico

Above, most of the ruins are an easy walk to reach. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last year, I took a drive to Chaco Canyon, which is not too far from home and whose access road turnoff is near Crownpoint, New Mexico. Its actual name is Chaco Culture National Historical Park. 

The access road to Chaco Canyon is about 25 miles of dirt road, much of it has ruts on its surface. It was a little bumpy, but my motorhome handled it fine. To be on the safe side, call first to check road conditions, especially during monsoon season (June to September).

Chaco Canyon is an interesting place. If one likes to explore ancient Indian ruins, this place is the place to visit.

Chaco Canyon has a campground, Gallo Campground, that can accommodate tents and RVs. One must bring their own water as the campground has no water and there are no food facilities. It also has a visitor center that compares favorably to ones that are in national parks.

Above, at Chaco Canyon's Gallo Campground. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

TheTravel has posted an article on Chaco Canyon.

It begins with:

Anyone who loves history and archeology or who is fascinated with a remote wilderness landscape will be blown away by the sheer feel and look of Chaco Canyon. While many places are described as secrets, which, on inspection, should really remain secrets, Chaco Canyon is a unique archeological gem that everyone should be singing about. It’s a living, glorious rebuttal to the wrongly-held notion that Plymouth was the first real city in the United States or that American history started with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in continental America in 1492.

For its sheer elegance, its muted eloquence, and its raw, unspoiled beauty, Chaco Canyon will only fail to impress those to whom nature, in its unalloyed beauty, or history, in its most fascinating—have no hold over.

To read more, go here.