jamiemonyet

My friend and I are planning a 10-day trip beginning August 30. We are flying into ABQ. We definitely want to see Acoma Pueblo, Chaco Culture National Park, and Mesa Verde. Initially, we were thinking of starting in ABQ and doing those three in that order, driving north. After Mesa Verde, we would head to Taos and then to Santa Fe before arriving back in Albuquerque. However, I have read some posts elsewhere that say getting to CCNP is best done from the north (not from the south, as I was planning). Has anyone driven to CCNP from the south? What kind of car did you drive?
We would like to spend the first half of the trip seeing those three places (also hiking in CCNP and MV) and the second half seeing Taos, Santa Fe, and their surrounding sights. Is this a realistic itinerary? Does anyone have suggested changes to the itinerary? Is it better to do the trip counter-clockwise instead? Thanks for your help!

emalloy

Chaco Canyon can be approached from either direction and if you plan on camping in the park it does not matter which direction you come from. The closest accommodations to it are in Bloomfield, NM about a half hour north of the road in which is why most people approach from that direction. You should know that the road in has about 5 or so miles of pavement then 12 - 15 miles of gravel then is paved once you get to the NP. The gravel can be ok if they have graded it recently or may be washboard if they have not. Additionally there are dips that will not be passable if there has been much rain, so check the weather before you do go, it is very worth a visit. If you plan to spend more than a few hours there, you will need to plan very well. It can take the better part of an hour to drive the 20 or so miles in if the road hasn't been graded.

We have done most of the places on your list on various trips and I would encourage you to go to Bandelier NP , which is about an hour west of Santa Fe. It has dwellings carved into the rock (really hardened volcanic ash) and has a very nice, less developed area about 5 miles closer to Santa Fe called Tsankawai.

I have some TRs for the area with links to pictures if you want an idea about some of the routes we have taken, just click my name here and scroll down to the TRs.

tovarich

In my opinion the best way to go is the following:
Albuq.-Acoma pueblo-Canyon de Chelly-Mesa Verde-Chaco can.N.P.-Taos-Santa Fe-Alb. You'll get a max out of this trip.Paul

jamiemonyet

Thanks emalloy and tovarich! I have been to the Southwest before (mostly Utah, a little of Arizona), and it was just stunningly beautiful. Can't wait to go back.

Emalloy -- great trip reports! You sound like a professional traveller

Yes, Bandelier is on the list as a side-trip from Santa Fe, as is Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. As for Taos, we want to see Taos Pueblo and drive the Enchanted Circle. We also want to go artwork shopping in both Santa Fe and Taos. I don't think we will have much time for Albuquerque. Is Canyon de Chelly similar to Chaco Canyon? With our itinerary, is there time to squeeze in CdC?

Tovarich -- how long was your trip, and how much time did you spend at each place?

Thanks!

jamiemonyet

Assuming that the road to Chaco Culture (coming from the south) is passable, do I need an SUV or will a compact/economy rental do just fine?

DebitNM

You don't really need a SUV, but the road to Chaco can get very rutted after rain. We have gone in from the south and while it is a long drive in [and there isn't much in the way of services on the main road in that area [there is a gas station with a small convenience store] it can be done.

August will be VERY hot with possible monsoon rains, usually in the mid to later afternoon. I have some threads on here regarding the Wetherill Mesa at MV, most visitors never go back that and that is a shame as it is quite remarkable.

I'll add some pictures too, just to whet you appetite:

https://picasaweb.google.com/DebitNM/TentRocksNov2010
https://picasaweb.google.com/DebitNM/MesaVerdeMay2009
https://picasaweb.google.com/DebitNM/ChacoCanyon

Wetherill Mesa -
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...od-to-keep.cfm

From nearby Aztec Ruins:
https://picasaweb.google.com/DebitNM/AztecRuins


Also check this out:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...uggestions.cfm

emalloy

There is only one basic road into Chaco, it just is how you approach it from 550 at the town of Nageezi. I've seen compact/economy cars in the parking lot but we've always rented a Jeep or suv of some sort.

Canyon de Chelley was a very different experience from Chaco for us. We went to the VC and saw the park service info for both. In Chaco we hiked a bit through the ruins, looked for rock art, etc. on our own both times. At CdC we drove the top on the first day, stopping at the overlooks and hired a Navajo guide to take us into the canyon on the second day. We arranged for the guide at the VC, but I'm sure you can also arrange for one at the motels in Chinle. I would imagine that each guide gives the basics, but gives very different personal information. Our guide was raised in the canyon (living in Chinle in the winter) hiked up out to get the school until high school when she was forced to go to a school in Utah during a dark period of our history in the 50's. She was very interesting, knew the history, where there were petroglyphs that were in interesting places, and gave some modern attitude. We brought a cooler with lunch and spent all day with her.

Both are very interesting and I can't really say which I liked better.

jamiemonyet

DebitNM, great pictures! Thanks for the tip on Wetherill Mesa. My trip is from Aug 30 to Sep 9. Of course, we will be checking the weather before heading up to CCNP.

Emalloy, CdC sounds so enticing, but after Google-mapping it, I think we will save it for another Southwest trip. Everything is so spread out over there!

Another question... we have El Malpais and/or El Morro as a "maybe" on our itinerary between Acoma Pueblo and Chaco Culture. Has anyone been to either El Malpais or El Morro? Thoughts on which one, if any, to see? We are into hiking (not diehard hikers, though) and not into camping.

DebitNM

I have been to El Morro. It is interesting to see but not sure it is worth the detour to see it. How you plan on driving from Acoma to Chaco; what route to you intend to take?

emalloy

To get to Chaco you need to go on 550 north of Albuquerque to Nageeze then head west - there is a sign. An old map showed a road in from 371 (old 666) but when we tried to go in that way the road was not possible to go on, real washouts, so we went down to Thoreau for the night and then back to Albuquerque and up to Chaco not the best plan

elMorro/Inscription rock is interesting and it is on rt 53 which kind of parallels I-40, but it is west of Acoma, not between Acoma and Chaco. . It is a fairly small site with a butte that has a large rock face with inscriptions from Spanish explorers, US army soldiers as well as petroglyphs of Native Americans. There was water near the inscriptions. There is a ruin that you can hike up to on the top. I have a picture of part of the ruin at www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009/sets in the 2008 set if you want a look. The views of the area are very nice from the top.

I've been to the VC at elMalpais but have not hiked in the area, it did look rather like a bad place to be, all old, volcanic rock, quite nasty if you took a fall.

Of the two I'd go to elMorro/Inscription rock.

DebitNM

you need to go on 550 north of Albuquerque to Nageeze

That was what I was getting at, emalloy.

El Morro is quite a distance from Acoma. From Grants area,there is a road that might be doable - 605 to 509? Or 371 from Thoreau. I don't know what any of these roads are like - could be ok, but could be not ok. Most likely dirt but could be paved.

tovarich

This was part of a nearly monthlong trip starting in Denver visiting S. Dakota- Wyoming-Montana-Yellowstone-Utah.From Moab we travelled down to visit Canyon de Chelly(nice Holiday inn at the entrance)-then to Gallupafter visiting Petrified forrest park-the next day we visited Acoma pueblo on our way to Santa Fe for two days-then on to visit Taos-from there on our way to Durango we visited Chaco canyon. I prefer Canyon de Chelly to Chaco. The views from the rim and down are great.Paul