Chaco Canyon

[SWharton]

From Grants we drove to Chaco Canyon in our toad, don't take a MH or a big rig. This was an RVing adventure. We went in the south entrance, 15-20 miles of dirt road in reasonable shape and open range. Be careful. Make sure you take food and water with you.

By the time we arrived we felt the NPS should pay for us to visit, not the other way around. We spent 3-4 hours in Chaco, did a lot of walking and were in awe with the construction of their Kivas and Pueblos. As many of the First Nation people did, one day they just packed up and left. Why they left behind such a well established location is a mystery. Chaco had a surprising amount of visitors for this time of year.

Based on our principle of trying not to use the same road twice we left via the east entrance. This road was again dirt and varied from horrendous to so-so. Open range again. We had an adventure getting back to Grants. Our GPS was of minimal use, we just kept heading south, dirt road after dirt road. We met many cars. We finally found a paved road, driving along at 65 and with no warning it became a dirt road again. When we finally found a paved road we rarely met anyone. After 40 miles or so of dirt roads we were havppy for a paved road, no matter where it led us. Finally managed to get back to Grants.

If you go to Chaco, you would be better served going in and out via the south road.

[trailertraveler]

1 hour ago, SWharton said:

 ...From Grants we drove to Chaco Canyon in our toad...

If  you are going to be in the Grants area for a while, there are a number of places that we found interesting.  In Grants, there is the Mining Museum. Just South of I-40 going West from Grants are El Malpais National Monument, El Moro National Monument, El Malpais National Conservation Area,   and the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano. Acoma Sky City is said to be the longest occupied location in the U.S. They give tours of the pueblo.