Chaco Canyon National Monument

Chaco Canyon, in northwest New Mexico about 45 miles south of Bloomfield, is the site of numerous ruins of the prehistoric Anasazi culture, including the largest and most completely excavated multistoried communal dwelling, Pueblo Bonito. A national monument from 1907, it was renamed Chaco Culture National Historic Park in 1980. The 33,974-acre park constitutes, with Mesa Verde, one of the most extensive collections of pueblo ruins in the southwest. Pueblo Bonito is situated on the valley floor with its back to a towering mesa. Tree-ring dates indicate that its construction was begun c.900 and not completed until c.1115.