Chaco Canyon
Western New Mexico
CHACO CANYON
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHACO CANYON
Chaco Canyon is a wonderful location that offers a great opportunity to visit one of the largest ancestral Puebloan ruins in the American Southwest. The Chaco Culture National Historical Park is located in northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, and is home to the massive Pueblo Bonito ruins which are believed to have been inhabited between AD 828 and AD 1126.
Pueblo Bonito once stood four stories tall and housed up to 750 rooms. It was the major center of culture for the Ancient Pueblo Peoples (Chacoans). The above picture is taken in one of the front rooms in the Pueblo Bonito complex.
I would ask that when you visit Chaco Canyon, please do your best to preserve all aspects of this location for future visitors and always try to leave it in better shape than when you found it.
Images and location summary by Tim Wier
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DATA POINTS INCLUDED WITH CHACO CANYON SUMMARY
I would rate the difficulty of this trail as a 2 on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being most difficult). The hike to the location is a very EASY 300yd. walk from the Pueblo Bonito complex parking lot. However, the drive to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park is long (27 miles from the highway) and is a back breaker is several places.
The middle section of the drive can be very difficult to drive on when it is wet. One spot in particular (a wash) is completely impassable after a hard rain. If it has rained recently, it would be best to call the Chaco Culture visitors’ center to see if the road is open.
This shot is all about the glowing light on the back wall. And the glow only happens on a clear day for the first couple of hours after sunrise. If the sun is blocked, the glow will not happen.
You would think taking a picture of a door would be as straightforward as it gets. Wrong! The room you will be standing in was build almost 1,000 years ago and the walls, floor, brick, and doors are not level or square. When setting up your camera, pay close attention to the sides of the door, the walls, the floor, and the door jam—and try to get them in some semblance of proportion. You will never get each lined up together, so just pick one that is level/straight. On the image above, I tried to get the left side of the back door straight and let the rest fall in place.
Another nuance of the shot is the distance, height, and placement between the front and back doors. If you move closer to the front door, the back door changes in proportion, and vice versa. If you move to the left, the back door moves to the right, and vice versa. My suggestion would be to arrive as early as possible or the day before to pick your composition. As mentioned, the golden glow does not last very long.
The best lens for the shot is a 28-50mm. The image above was shot at 40mm.
4,250 Ft. Elevation
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KMZ Trail File
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Best Time of Day to Shoot
Best Time of Year to Shoot
Equipment Needed
Permits Required
Direction of Shot
Google Maps Birds-Eye-View
Number of Photographers to Expect
Cell Service
Overnight Lodging/Camping
Nearby Restaurants
Area Guides and Workshops
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LOCATION SUMMARIES WRITTEN BY PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
