When one of my clients heard I was heading on a week-long road trip to sites like Mesa Verde, she chimed in, "If you like Mesa Verde, you'll LOVE Chaco Canyon!" "Chaco Canyon?" I thought. "I've never heard of it." As the official trip planner, I hopped on Mapquest and found it was only about 20 miles out of the way, so why not swing by? That may have been one of the best trip-planning decisions I've made. This hidden site of ruins is fabulous!
Located over an hour away from civilization and 16 miles down a washboard road, Chaco Canyon is not easily accessible, but trust me, it's well worth it.
One of several kivas
Kivas in the courtyard of a Great House
Most of these pictures were taken in one Great House. This three-level house spans across three acres and consists of over 600 rooms. And if that's not enough site seeing, Chaco Canyon has roughly 20 Great Houses to explore!
Walking through the courtyard
As you can see, most of the rooms are still intact and accessible to the public. In this section of the house we waked through at least 11 rooms.
The Great Kiva. It's hard to capture the magnitude of the structure, but this kiva is over 60 feet in diameter.
So if you're looking for a great new site, head on over to Chaco Canyon. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. And since Troy and I are already planning our next trip to Chaco in just a month or two, maybe we'll see you there. :)
