Winter at Chaco Culture National Historic Park

I first learned of Chaco Canyon while going down a YouTube documentary rabbit hole. I’d had plans to drive down to Albuquerque for Christmas, and lucky for me, Chaco wasn’t far off my route.

The park is one of the least visited parks in the National Park System. Try driving there during a wet winter and you’ll see why. The last few miles from the north entrance were sketchy. Two sections of dirt road had turned into slippery mud pits, and one flash flood area had water running across it. I questioned whether or not my car would survive the drive. Luckily it did. Thanks Subaru! But as we left, we saw another driver who wasn’t so lucky. She’d slid off a muddy section of road and was waiting for a tow out. Pro-tip: four wheel drive is your best friend if you want to get there (and home) when sections of road are more mud than dirt.

Exploring Pueblo Bonito

We didn’t have much time to explore before the park closed. So after checking in at the visitor center, we headed straight for Pueblo Bonito, which is the biggest site in the park. I was so excited to see that the ruins were covered in snow! The contrast between the blue sky, orange walls, and white snow was gorgeous.

Since I’m a bit of a national park nerd, I had a hard time believing that I’d never heard of this place before. I can see why it doesn’t receive a ton of visitation, since it’s so remote and somewhat difficult to get to. But it was so cool to stand amongst these 1000+ year-old structures and imagine what the Chaco Canyon must’ve looked like in its heyday. We don’t definitively know much about the people who lived here, but it’s wild to make guesses as to why they choses Chaco, what these buildings were used for, and how their structures have survived for so long.

I 100% recommend making this trip in the winter. I doubt this park ever gets crowded, but having ruins to yourself during low visitation periods is such a unique experience.