THE TRAIL TO TSIN KLETSIN meanders through sagebrush, sandstone, and desert washes before climbing up to the Ancestral Puebloan great house. The South Mesa structure seems to stand alone, far removed from the clustered great houses central to Chaco Culture National Historical Park. But looking back toward the trailhead from the still-standing walls, the view aims right to Pueblo Bonito in the heart of the canyon. Time spent in the great houses builds appreciation for the grandeur of Chaco, but hikes share some hint of the scale of that culture, which once spanned much of the Southwest, and demonstrate how great houses are distinct from but in relationship to one another.
“You don’t have to be a history buff or really into Indigenous culture to enjoy Chaco,” says Phoebe Redfield, executive director of the Chaco Culture Conservancy, a nonprofit that supports the park. “You can just be into hiking and exploring new trails, and also learn something along the way.”
Hike the Pueblo Alto Trail to the Kin Kletso great house.
South Mesa Trail. The 4.5-mile loop starts from Casa Rinconada, climbs 600 feet onto South Mesa to Tsin Kletsin, then loops back following Chacoan roads.
Wijiji Trail. Start from Gallo Campground for a 3.8-mile out-and-back route that’s also great for biking. Constructed later than many of the other great houses, Wijiji was uniquely built in a single phase, rather than added onto over centuries. A spur trail visits petroglyphs and pictographs. “It’s a smaller site, but it really is somewhat of a gateway to older communities,” says park superintendent Denise Robertson. Nearby attractions span early Basketmaker archaeological sites, the Chaco great house, rock art, and even a particularly attractive Civilian Conservation Corps–era culvert.
Peñasco Blanco Trail. This rugged 7.5-mile round-trip route skirts the great houses of Kin Kletso and Casa Chiquita before reaching the distant namesake great house perched on an uplift with a stunning view to the west. “Some parts of the trail have been washed out, but it really is a gem,” Robertson says. “If you can get out to Peñasco Blanco, you can feel like you’re one of the only people on earth.” The great house was not heavily excavated like others in the canyon, she adds, so what a visitor sees now is what visitors have been coming across for centuries. A brief detour at the 1.5-mile mark visits one of the park’s more densely crowded petroglyph panels. Just after crossing Chaco Wash at three miles in, a supernova pictograph, which appears to depict an exploding star, is painted on a cliff overhang.
Pueblo Alto Trail. The 5.5-mile loop climbs about 600 feet onto the mesa behind Kin Kletso great house—a steep scramble up a slot in the rock that was likely also a route Chacoans used. From there, the trail meanders along sandstone ledges to look down on the great houses of Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl.
Freelance writer Elizabeth Miller camped in temperatures cold enough that the ink in her pen froze during this reporting, but enjoyed some brilliant stars.
