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 Chaco
Culture National Historical Park preserves one of America's most significant
and fascinating cultural and historic areas.
Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between
AD 850 and 1250. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for
the prehistoric Four Corners area - unlike anything before or since.
Chaco is remarkable
for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings, and its distinctive
architecture. To construct the buildings, along with the associated Chacoan
roads, ramps, dams, and mounds, required a great deal of well organized
and skillful planning, designing, resource gathering, and construction.
The Chacoan people combined pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical
alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient
urban center of spectacular public architecture - one that still amazes
and inspires us a thousand years later.
The Chacoan cultural
sites are fragile and irreplaceable and represent a significant part of
America's cultural heritage. The sites are part of the sacred homeland
of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and
the Navajo Indians of the Southwest, all of whom continue to respect and
honor them.
Chaco Culture National
Historical Park is a very special place. Remote and isolated, it offers
few amenities, so come prepared. You will find that the rewards are unlimited.
Operating Hours &
Seasons
The Visitor Center
is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m
The park visitor center is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and
New Year's Day, in observance of these holidays, but the park's trails
and campground will remain open.
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