The long, shallow canyon, with hundreds of smaller sites, contains 13 major archeological sites unsurpassed in the United States, representing the highest point of Pueblo pre-Columbian civilization. Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between A.D. 850 and 1250. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and government for the prehistoric Four Corners area - and a phenomenon unlike anything before or since.

The landscape of Chaco Canyon is hauntingly beautiful. Sunlight and shadows play on towering rock walls where petroglyphs keep secret the history of an ancient people. The canyon floor still conceals the buried remains of Pueblo dwellings. Those which have been excavated are as mysterious as they are revealing. Visitors come from all over the world to this spectacular place to enjoy the natural beauty and to marvel at the grandeur of the ancient sandstone buildings that remain.

• The best way to see the sites is to go on a ranger-conducted walk. Information about these tours and the evening campfire programs is available at the visitor center.