I will be providing useful resources related to Chaco in periodic posts, all filed under the category "Useful Resources."
I highly recommend you begin here, at the national park service's Chaco website (Chaco Culture National Historical Park), which is full of great information. Browse around, spend a little time. Be sure to check out the photo gallery. This will show you some of the beauty and character that draws so many of us back.
In brief, "Chaco Canyon was a major center of Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250. The Chacoan sites are part of the homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest."
Chaco is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, about 150 miles northwest of Albuquerque, in the high desert at an elevation of 6200 feet. Access from either the north or south is via ~20-mile dirt roads, and visitors stay in Gallo Campground (tent or RV), which (thankfully) has flush toilets. The tent sites are in a beautiful rincon (click on the photo of my campsite to the left, taken in October 2007).
Those who come really want to be there. Believe me, it is worth it.
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