rscottjon.es
Main topics
  • Outings
  • Travel
  • Questing
  • Travel Strategies
  • Places
  • Other Topics
    • Intentional Life
    • Editorial
    • #NatureWritingChallenge
    • Inspiration
    • People
    • Conservation
    • National Parks
    • ASU Football
    • Personal
Top Level Pages
  • START HERE
  • About
  • My Travel
  • My Quests
  • → ScottJon.es
  • → Questing.app
Featured posts
  • military_working_dog_teams
    Visiting America’s most obscure National Monument
  • quick_word_on_sacrifices_made_for_travel_blog
    A quick word on sacrifices made for travel
  • surprise_us_road_trip
    Choose a surprise destination for our upcoming road trip!
  • delete justgetoutmore
    Why I killed JustGetOutMore in favor of a more personal website
  • campfire_chat_tom_thrash
    A Campfire Chat with Tom Thrash about Quests
Connect on Social
Twitter
Instagram
Flickr
YouTube
Get email updates
  • START HERE
  • About
  • My Travel
  • My Quests
  • → ScottJon.es
  • → Questing.app
rscottjon.es

Tagline-free since 1998

Subscribe
rscottjon.es
  • Outings
  • Travel
  • Questing
  • Travel Strategies
  • Places
  • Other Topics
    • Intentional Life
    • Editorial
    • #NatureWritingChallenge
    • Inspiration
    • People
    • Conservation
    • National Parks
    • ASU Football
    • Personal

Chaco Canyon for Mom’s 70th Birthday – May 2012

Mom overlooking Pueblo Bonito
My Mom overlooking Pueblo Bonito

Chaco Canyon.

A tiny isolated canyon that hosts one of the most tantalizing ruins in the country.

Chaco has been near the top of my to-visit list since about the time I first saw the classic view of the semicircular Pueblo Bonito ruin from the rim. There were always warnings about getting there—a long, rough dirt road that not all vehicles could make; conflicting construction information about whether one should approach from the north or the south; and a hot, dusty landscape with no services that wouldn’t be fun to visit in the dead of summer.

But it wasn’t those factors that really prevented Kim and I from making the trip. In actuality, we added Chaco to more than one trip itinerary, but always decided that it made more sense to tackle other national park units instead. At least once, we had a trip planned just to Chaco but had to cancel or postpone for a reason I don’t recall.

Nonetheless, it was the only unvisited “big” park left in the region, so it was a bit annoying that we never made it there. In 2012, with my Mom facing her 70th birthday, I finally pulled the trigger. We’d go on a short national park road trip for her birthday, much like we had a decade earlier in celebrating her 60th in Yosemite and Sequoia.

Chaco wall detail
Wall construction at Chaco

So with huge expectations for this tiny, ruin-packed canyon, we arrived at Chaco for a long weekend of exploring ahead of us. As with many of my trips these days, I did little pre-planning. It was obvious the campground—the only place to stay within 80 miles of the park—would not be full, even with the long holiday weekend immediately preceding our trip. We stocked up on food and water, as there are no services in the park. And we brought copies of House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest by Craig Childs, who sent along an extra piece of advice for us via email prior to the trip.

We would not be disappointed.

Chaco doorway
Doorways in Pueblo Bonito

The most amazing thing about Chaco Canyon is why it even exists. There aren’t any natural resources here. There’s barely any water, and trees only exist 70 miles away. Relatively few people lived here. Yet it became the major center of trade and culture in the Southwest.  Mind-boggling roads were built radiating out from this tiny, isolated canyon. Interesting archeoastronomic alignments seem to exist in many of the buildings. Even the largest ruins, including the staggering Pueblo Bonito, weren’t fully occupied. It’s part of that mystery that really adds to the experience here—this was a grand place, no doubt about it, but why?

I won’t give away too many details about the park, but it really did live up to its billing. We both had a great time on a very memorable trip. I was really happy to bring my Mom here on such a special occasion, and it seemed like a great last road trip for my Forester.

Random notes

  • The Gallo Campground is sparse but nicely tucked into a small canyon. All told, it was one of my favorite campsites in the national parks, aided substantially by being less than half-filled. Ironically, everyone in our section of the campground arrived in Subarus.
  • Reading House of Rain during our visit greatly improved our enjoyment of the area.
  • If you love kivas, you’ll really love Chaco.
  • Pick up a backcountry trail guide and get off the pavement. Make sure that you spend some time visiting the Pueblo Alta complex (and get that traditional shot of Chaco from above) and northwest along the wash.
  • If you have any additional time, seek out a “Chacoan outlier” ruin on your drive to or from Chaco.
  • Get up early and spend sunrise in Pueblo Bonito. There are some interesting plays of light.
  • It’s truly amazing how many large ruins occupy this compact little canyon.

Places we visited

  • Chaco Culture National Historic Park
  • A few roadside attractions, including Twin Arrows, Indian Village, and Stewart’s Petrified Wood.

Related Blog posts

  • Last roadtrip for my Forester

Photos

  • My Chaco photos

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Hi, I’m Scott.
I’m here to help you
Just Get Out More,
whether that’s a weekend
day trip or an epic adventure.
↡ ↡ ↡
explore eagerly
travel cheaply
adventure often

Get occasional email updates
Instagram
Wish I could be transported back to summer to float down the Buffalo National River. It looked so inviting during our last visit, but we only had a couple of hours available—too short for a paddle. 65 0
We’re picking some new photos for our living room wall this week, and this aerial shot from Gates of the Arctic National Park has made the cut. We had had no idea how amazing flightseeing in remote Alaska would be until this day—my first significant exposure to bush planes in the backcountry. Holy shit it did not disappoint! 122 10
Still missing being up on Montana, where I finished my Treasured Places quest, comprised of the 478 specially-protected public lands in the country. Check out treasuredplaces.us for more on how you adopt the quest too. 69 1
It's been awhile since i've planned a trip to Arizona's "West Coast." It's probably time to change that... [launches calendar app to look for appropriate weekends] 58 0
Follow
Top Recent Posts
  • 1
    A weekend of brewery-hopping in Portland
    • 3 min
  • Evening light over the resort pool 2
    More stories from our trip to the South Pacific
    • 11 min
  • tropical fish in coral 3
    Touring Fiji by Boat and Bus
    • 6 min
  • 4
    Swimming Across Samoa
    • 9 min
  • Thank you for visiting 5
    My Submissions for the 2018 #FindYourPark Photo Challenge
    • 6 min
Connect on Social
Twitter
Instagram
Flickr
YouTube
Wish I could be transported back to summer to float down the Buffalo National River. It looked so inviting during our last visit, but we only had a couple of hours available—too short for a paddle. 65 0
We’re picking some new photos for our living room wall this week, and this aerial shot from Gates of the Arctic National Park has made the cut. We had had no idea how amazing flightseeing in remote Alaska would be until this day—my first significant exposure to bush planes in the backcountry. Holy shit it did not disappoint! 122 10
Still missing being up on Montana, where I finished my Treasured Places quest, comprised of the 478 specially-protected public lands in the country. Check out treasuredplaces.us for more on how you adopt the quest too. 69 1
It's been awhile since i've planned a trip to Arizona's "West Coast." It's probably time to change that... [launches calendar app to look for appropriate weekends] 58 0
Earlier this week I visited the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. This photo is taken from "Decision Point," where Lewis and Clark made a critically important decision on which riverway to follow during their expedition westward. 93 10
I'm currently plotting out some kayaking trips for the rest of the year, and I'm realizing how few Arizona lakes I've actually paddled. Guess I should change that. #optoutside #kayakarizona 84 5

Get occasional email updates

rscottjon.es
  • Outings
  • Travel
  • Questing
  • Travel Strategies
  • Places
  • Other Topics
tagline-free since 1998

Input your search keywords and press Enter.