catbee

We are planning a girls trip to NW New Mexico and are wondering if Mid May would be a good time. We would like to visit Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Monument Valley is another thought but I havent done the research as to logistics yet.
We were hoping to rent a vacation home and do day trips so we were not packing and unpacking in hotels. Is this an unrealistic plan? I know we will have to keep the car full of gas and pack a cooler of water & food. We were hoping to avoid the really hot summer months and I assume monsoon season wouldnt start until late June? We have a Subaru so unpaved roads should not be a problem.
This is our first time visiting the state and we plan on flying into and out of Albuquerque. Our friend lives in Boulder who will drive to meet us and thus avoid rental car fees. We are all outdoor people and Chaco Canyon is a huge draw after reading the book House of Rain. We are interested in the local culture, history and beauty of this area. We are flexible in time as we are all retired.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

emalloy

Mid May would be a good time to do this trip, but the Wetherell Mesa part of Mesa Verde doesn't usually open until Memorial Day.

If you try to find a house to do day trips, most of your vacation will be spent in the car, not at the sites. We've done many trips to the area and I just unpack what I'll wear the next day and put the dirty clothes in a bag in the evening, and check out of the hotel after breakfast.

Chaco Canyon is truly wonderful, and is not really near any other place. When we first went there we were told that there was lodging in Nageezi, but we couldn't see any place to rest our heads, so went to Bloomfield where there were motels. It is about a half hour from Bloomfield to Nageezi where the road in starts and there are a few miles of pavement then you are on a gravel - sometimes washboard- sometimes washed out- road for about ten miles then a paved road when you get to NP land.

I would want to do an overnight at Far View lodge in Mesa Verde. This is another park that it takes about a half hour or more just to get from the main hwy to the top of the mesa. If you go you do want to sign up for at least one of the ranger led hikes into one of the dwellings as well as doing the sites that are open on your own, easily a day and a half or two days to explore, more if you do hikes.

Canyon de Chelley is also awesome but you need to go with a Navajo guide if you want to do more that look from the rims and hike down to the one ruin that is open to outsiders.

There is a lot more to see in the area. Aztec ruin and Salmon Ruin are near Bloomfield, between Mesa Verde and Chaco. Bandolier NM is also in northern New Mexico and is well worth a visit.

Get a good map and look at how far these places are apart and plan your visit carefully. This is an awesome area to explore.

BeachGirl247

Curious how many days you have planned for this and where you want to base as these points are quite a distance from each other. Santa Fe to Chaco Canyon can be done as a day trip but if you are interested in many of the sites you will be quite limited. We spent 3 days there camping and riding our bikes to the site and I still wanted to see more. If you can find lodging nearby you could go on to Mesa Verde to overnight, visit the park for a full day at least, overnighting and then head to your next destination.

Canyon de Chelly is over 5 hours from Santa Fe, for example, so I'm not sure if you are wanting to spend a day driving to each point to overnight. Staying in one spot for these 3 sites doesn't work logistically.

Also, elevation could come into play in how you adjust to altitude so you may not be able to do as much each day as you can at low elevations. Chaco is at 6,000 feet, Canyon de Chelly 5000-6000 feet and Mesa Verde 7,000-8,500 feet.

It's a beautiful area! My favorite months here are September, October, and late May after the winds (which are not predictable. I love our winters but that isn't the best for hiking and exploring. Summer, while in 80's, is not hot as in the low desert areas but the afternoons hiking in canyons can get hot so hiking early in the day is more comfortable for me.

catbee

I have a tentative schedule planned after looking at the map and would love your input as to whether the information I collected is correct. As far as altitide goes, I visited my friend in Boulder a few years ago and had altitude sickness for one day. Hoping that wont happen again. My other two friends only had a headache for a few days.
I thought we would arrive in Albuquerque on 5/11 & spend the night there. Travel from there to Farmington which is a 3 hr drive? Spend the night in Farmington & leave very early the next morning for Chaco taking a cooler of water & sandwiches/snacks. It said Chaco is a 2,5 hr drive from Farmington via Indian Rt 36 so back to Farmington for the night and leave for Canyon De Chelly where we will drive around the outer perimeter, spend the night in Chinle & hire a Navaho guide for the next day to take us in the Canyon. We are debating as to whether we should spend a second night in Chinle or drive back to Farmington after the jeep tour.
From Chinle or Farmington we will drive to Santa Fe & rent a house for 5 nights. It seems there is more to see/do in Santa Fe than Taos. Taos can be a day trip as it said the drive was only 1.5 hrs.
We would check out of Santa Fe on 5/20 and drive back to Albuquerque Airport which is an hour's drive to catch our flights home.
We dont want to spend our entire trip in a car & thought this would be the best use of our time doing both things. I have checked a few hotels in Farmington & the Townplace Suites have 2 bedroom units so we could get 2 rooms there. Reviews for Chinle had me worried as smoking is allowed in some of the rooms and that would bother my asthma. I assume that is because it is Native owned. So the only thing left to do is find a rental home that has 4 bedrooms in Santa Fe.
I would love your input and suggestions. The other lovely places will have to wait for another visit. Chaco & Canyon De Chelly are the two we really want to see and we heard Santa Fe and Taos should not be missed.

emalloy

That sounds like a doable plan given your places to visit. Chaco and Canyon de Chelley are both very interesting.

Taos can be done from Santa Fe as a day trip, sign up for a tour with one of the knowledgeable guides. We lucked out and there was a festival at a Spanish ranch when we were in Taos. Do go over to Bandolier NP about an hour west of SF. I found the dwellings there and the unexcavated area called Tsankawi which is about 5 miles closer to SF from the main park were very interesting.

Drink about five times as much water as you think you need to help with altitude sickness. Keep a cooler in the car with food and drinks.

Some of the roads you will be on are "open range", so keep an eye out for cattle and horses along the way as well as wild animals like deer and antelope.

DebitNM

Personally, I would do Mesa Verde instead of Canyon de Chelley. But it would be better to come after Memorial Day to be able to visit Wetherill Mesa. The main part of MV is still worth a visit without Wetherill. As it is, only 10% of park visitors go there anyway as it is a bit removed from the main sites.

I think you will see a lot of geological stuff already and to me the historical aspect of MV is so special. It is easily worked into your plan after Farmington.

Tent Rocks is worth a half day while in Santa Fe.
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/content/nm...S/KKTR_NM.html

All of these sites are special. You'll come back to visit, they always do, so don't feel bad if you don't get to them all this trip. You almost can't go wrong.

catbee

Thank you emalloy for the water recommendation. We plan on taking a cooler with us but I will plan on more water.
We had planned on visiting Mesa Verde too, DebitNM, but we didnt want all our time spent in the car. We only see each other every other year and the rental home will allow us to have more down time.
I have no doubt that we will wish to return. Thank you everyone for your input.

falcon

Having been to both, I would seriously recommend visiting Monument Valley over Canyon de Chelly. Although the Canyon is very interesting, I believe that Monument Valley is much more scenic. It is an American icon in so many ways. Take a tour down into the valley with a local guide--that really made a difference in our trip. We stayed at the Native-American owned hotel on the edge of the valley and we were so glad we did. Unless you want to spend your whole vacation in the car, I would spend the night closer to the sights you really want to see. If you do get to Canyon de Chelly, stop by Window Rock AZ, the headquarters for the Navajo Nation, for a quick view. We found it worth the time.

catbee

Our end result is to stay in Santa Fe for 5 days. Your suggestion, falcon, is a good one but we were hoping to avoid a lot of time in a car. I will have to check the map and distance. We could probably skip Canyon de Chelly and visit Monument if it was the same amount of time in the car.
I appreciate your input as there are so many beautiful places fo visit in that area and they all seem to be far apart.
Some of them will have to wait for another visit.

BeachGirl247

If 5 1/2 hours or less is considered not a lot of time in the car then this itinerary is good.

I, too, think spending the nights near the sites would give you more down time with your friends. As it is you will be in a car a lot but with 5 days on the end (I guess no day trips during this time) you will be able to have a relaxing schedule.

emd3

One time a few yrs ago when we left Santa Fe to return to Albuquerque we took the road that goes to Bandalier, stopped for a short hike there, then kept going, and went to Valle Caldera. That is alpine territory, and it was fascinating; it was April and there was a lot of snow, but the roads were clear. We kept going on the same road back to lower altitude to Jemez, which is the start of a beautiful red rocks area, almost like Sedona. We hiked a bit at a park area past Jemez that had wonderful trails, and ended up back in Albuquerque.

This was a truly wonderful day. Many changes in landscape and altitiude, absolutely stunning. Take a look at the map and if you are staying in ABQ for a night before departure, consider that drive. We were told about this option by a waiter in Santa Fe, and it was a big winner.

emd3

Lol, I reread my post above and it sounds like the hike past Jemez took us back to Albuquerque. I assure you we did not hike that far. We hiked about and hour at the park past Jemez, and then drove down same rd. back to the Hyatt Tamaya, which is a fantastic place in Bernalillo, just outside of Albuquerque, close to the Sandia Tram.

emd3

Catbee, here is my trip report, which includes good info on that drive and hiking we did on the drive I described above from Santa Fe to Abq. towards end of the report. Maybe you will enjoy some of the Santa Fe info also.

Your posts make me want to go back. My son has been ill in 2015 and we have not been able to travel much. I really miss NM.