Chaco Canyon was a major center of culture for the pueblo peoples between 900 AD and 1150 AD. The Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from the distant flanks of mountains; they created 15 complexes, the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century.


Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a United States national historical park. The ruins of the building make up the most dense and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the Southwestern U.S.

The park, in northwestern New Mexico, sits between Albuquerque and Farmington, in a remote canyon cut by the Chaco Wash. The final 16 miles of road we took from the east side of the park were washboarded dirt. The effort reach Chaco, though, was worth it.