The Chaco experience

There are few places in New Mexico I haven’t visited. One has haunted me, and this had to be the right opportunity to finally make it there. Chaco Canyon.

Heading there we stopped for a while at Red Rock State Park, a great place to hike and the setting of many a Western. Now it houses a convention center, a rodeo arena, and is the locale of an amazing Prairie Dog town.

Prairie dogs galore

Chaco is located in an area that’s only reachable after traveling for a long time on a very rough, difficult road, a road that does a fine job to deter exploration. As if that wasn’t enough, there are no gas stations, food concessions, or hotels for a hundred miles in each direction.

There are many stories surrounding the place. Stories of UFOs, of haunting sounds and strange lights being seen in the sky. But there’s also the history, one that goes back to the 9^th century AD, when a vast multitribal community chose it as its center.

Its ruins were finally discovered only a century ago. They consist of roads that radiated 400 miles from Chaco, and buildings and dwellings that once stood five stories tall and contained more than 800 rooms.

Young coyote looking for prey

Several settlements made up the community, the largest and most dramatic being Pueblo Bonito.

We left Chaco in awe of the place, but we were also starving. An hour and a half later, we reached the quaint town of Aztec. Being Sunday, however, the few restaurants we found were closed.

Aztec was closed for business

From here we had to drive to Farmington, 30 miles to the west, to get something in our bellies and check into our hotel for the night.

Another full day in the Land of Enchantment. Life is good.