Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Walk through the stone great houses of Chaco Canyon, including Pueblo Bonito, along the Canyon Loop Drive.

End of County Road 7950, off US-550 via CR 7900 · Nageezi, NM

About Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Chaco Culture National Historical Park preserves a major center of Ancestral Puebloan culture from 850 to 1250 CE. From the Canyon Loop Drive you walk into great houses such as Pueblo Bonito, the largest, along with Chetro Ketl and Casa Rinconada. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Gold-tier International Dark Sky Park with night sky programs. It is remote, and the usual northern route includes 13 miles of rough dirt road that can become impassable when wet.

#ancestral puebloan ruins
#world heritage site
#dark sky park
#national historical park

Printable maps

What's around here?

The closest stops to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sports & Outdoors
Outdoor Adventure
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
No admission fee
Hike off trail through 45,000 acres of eroded badlands, colorful hoodoos and petrified wood.
19 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Nightlife
Apache Nugget Casino
Check prices
Casino and travel center run by the Jicarilla Apache Nation at the US-550 and Highway 537 junction in northern New Mexico.
39 mi awaySwitch it up: Nightlife
Museums
History Buff
Salmon Ruins Museum
Under $25
An 11th century Chacoan great house ruin near Bloomfield with a self guided trail, heritage park and museum.
Transit: reachable by public transit
45 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Sightseeing
History Buff
Aztec Ruins National Monument
No admission fee
Walk a half-mile trail through an ancestral Pueblo great house and step inside a restored Great Kiva.
54 mi awayMore like this
Sports & Outdoors
Bluewater Lake State Park
Check prices
A high-elevation New Mexico state park on a lake, offering camping, hiking, birding, horseback riding and fishing.
54 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors