Chaco Canyon Service, New Mexico

Getting There

Chaco Canyon lies about 3-4 hours northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and 3-4 hours south of Durango, Colorado. The last 20 miles into the Park are on dirt roads, which are passable for two-wheel drive vehicles except immediately after a rainfall when the roads turn into seas of mud. The main route into the Park is from the Northeast off of Highway 550 (formerly NM 44) south of Nageezi. There is also a southern entrance from Crownpoint; the trip update will include more information. Transportation to and from the Park is not included in the cost of the trip and is your responsibility. You are strongly encouraged to share transportation (carpooling, car rentals) with other participants; please indicate your interest to your leaders. We will collate all information and send it to all participants. Parking is very limited near our campsite.

Accommodations and Food

The keys to making this trip a happy and memorable experience are an awareness of the need to adjust to the 6,000-6,500-foot altitude, the lack of shade and moisture, and extremes of temperature (from highs in the 90s to lows in the 30s F). Strong winds and blowing sand are common occurrences in the late afternoon, and violent thunderstorms are possible. If you know your limits and respect them, you will do fine. You need appropriate layered clothing and a waterproof tent. The weather at this time of year is very unpredictable, so bring a range of outerwear.

Equipment and Clothing

The following are classic background readings on Southwestern Prehistory, the Ancestral Pueblos, and the Navajo Nation. Consult your local library for other titles.

• Frazier, Kendrick, People of Chaco Canyon: A Canyon and its Culture.

• Lister, Robert H., Those Who Came Before: Southwestern Archaeology in the National Park System.

• Lister, R. and Lister, F., Chaco Canyon.

• Kluckhorn, Clyde, and Dorothea Leighton, The Navajo.

• Bogard, Paul, The End of Night. About the challenges of maintaining dark skies.

• Hillerman, Tony, A Thief of Time. For lighter reading.

Here are some interesting websites (the first is the official Park site):

• www.nps.gov/chcu/

• www.livescience.com/history/090202-earliest-chocolate.html

• www.solsticeproject.org/greanort.htm

• www1.american.edu/TED/ice/anasazi.htm

For those of you who can take the time, there is a lot to see elsewhere in New Mexico. The Tourist Information Bureaus in Albuquerque and Santa Fe have excellent brochures that they can send you, and of course, there's always the AAA guide. Don't miss the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque; their exhibit on Native American prehistory is superlative!

Conservation

Our work in Chaco Canyon is directed toward protecting and preserving the irreplaceable remnants of a lost Native American civilization. Despite Chaco's immense historical significance, the Park Service is seriously understaffed and relies on the Sierra Club and other volunteers to help maintain the Park. The work we do would probably not get done without us! Everything we do, whether mundane or inspired, is intended to improve the Park: by protecting it, reclaiming it, or improving the educational experience of its visitors.

Since its founding in 1892, The Sierra Club has worked to preserve and restore the natural environment we all share on this planet. Thousands of grassroots-level volunteers spearhead our efforts to conserve and sustain resources, both in our backyards and on a global scale. Through direct experience in the outdoors, Sierra Club outings enable participants to better understand, advocate, and participate in the environmental conservation goals of the Club.

Service outings, in particular, stand out as one of the Sierra Club’s most important “boots on the ground” conservation efforts. The work done by service trip participants in our nation’s public lands is a way of practicing conservation in the most direct way possible, whether it’s improving access while preserving wilderness values, restoring wildlife habitat, or repairing human-caused damage to a natural area. Service trips are a great way to pitch in and do something tangible to make the world a better place; they’re a way to go beyond just talking about conservation; a way to get out there and experience conservation with your whole being.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.