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Four Rock Star National Parks for Archaeological Sites

The U.S. may not have the great monuments of imperial civilizations, but it can lay claim to the most awe-inspiring Native American sites and a variety of truly amazing built landscapes.

The U.S. Department of the Interior not only protects some of the most stunning natural landscapes in the country through its National Parks but it also ensures the preservation and conservation of some of nation's most historical and culturally significant environments and archaeological sites within its National Parks, National Monuments, and National Historic Sites network. The U.S. may not have the great monuments of imperial civilizations, but it can lay claim to the most awe-inspiring Native American sites and a variety of truly amazing built landscapes.

The most prolific builders were the Anasazi (Navajo for "Ancient Ones") or Pueblo people of the American southwest, the Native American tribes that began living in the region now covered by Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona -- an area also known as the Four Corners - some 2,000 years ago. The largest cluster of archaeological remains can be found in this area and they are largely referred to an Anasazi sites. There are also a number of other tribal groups represented including the Mogollon, Hohokam, and the Sinagua. Here are four must-sees:

1. Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico (www.nps.gov/chcu) is not only considered important in an American cultural history context, but it is also significant on a global scale and is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site. A sacred site to many Native American groups even today, the Chaco Canyon was the epicenter of ancestral Anasazi or Puebloan culture from the ninth to the 13th century AD and consisted of a large number of public buildings, huge homes and ceremonial chambers. The Chacoan people used a combination of set architectural designs, geometry, astronomical alignments, and engineering to create a sophisticated and sprawling ancient urban center connected to dozens of nearby communities in the region by engineered roads. What remains today is an area of 18 square miles with 18 major ruins and countless smaller sites featuring a series of preserved buildings and rock art in a stunning landscape that can be visited throughout the year.

Six major sites are located along a nine-mile Canyon Loop Drive, including Una Vida, Hungo Pavi, Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo, and Casa Rinconada. From May to October, there are daytime ranger-led tours of Pueblo Bonito and other Chacoan sites plus a series of evening programs. From April to October, the Chaco Night Sky Program presents astronomy programs and daytime solar viewing. Entrance is $8 per vehicle which is good for seven days or $4 for cyclists. For an in-depth look at Chaco, consider a seven-day Southwest Safari Camp: Ancient Mysteries of Chaco Canyon hiking adventure from Oars (tel. 800/346-2677; www.oars.com). The tour departs from Durango, CO on September 13 and 27, 2009 and is priced at $2,775 per person based on double occupancy, with a $600 single supplement. The trip includes transportation; accommodation at a private campsite for five nights ,and one night at the Strater Hotel in Durango; extensive touring of the Chaco Canyon site over four days led by a professional archaeologist; visits to outlying Pueblos; a tour of Aztec National Monument; and all meals.

2. Mesa Verde National Park (www.nps.gov/meve) in southwest Colorado, another UNESCO World Heritage listed site, is home to over 4,000 individual archaeological sites, a number of mesa or mountain top pueblo villages dating back to around 800 AD and extensive elaborate cliff dwellings built in caves from the 12th century AD. Mesa top ruins located on Ruins Road Drive offer a chance to see early pit-house dwellings and pueblo villages with subterranean round ceremonial chambers, but the architectural highlight of Mesa Verde has to be its cliff dwellings located beneath the mesa rim, considered to be the best preserved in North America. In particular, the Cliff Palace, with its 217 rooms and 23 ceremonial kivas is America's largest and most impressive cliff dwelling and was thought to have once housed a population of up to 250 people.

There is also the Long House, the second largest, with some 150 rooms and 21 kivas and Spruce Tree House, a humbler abode with 114 rooms and eight kivas. In all, there are close to 600 cliff dwellings, some lying over 600 feet from the Canyon floor and although most are smaller in stature, possessing one to five rooms plus a kiva, each is an architectural and engineering masterpiece in its own right and can be quite accurately dated from the 12th or 13th century AD from its wooden ceiling beams. Some of the main dwellings can only be visited on of a guided tour and tickets can be purchased from the Far View Visitor Center (or the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum in the winter) for $3 per person.

In the summer months when the park gets very crowded, you may only be able to take one tour per day and if you have any mobility issues or suffer from vertigo, you should choose your tour wisely as climbing ladders is common. The one-hour Cliff Palace tour is the most popular and involves climbing five, 8 to10 foot ladders, on a 100 foot vertical climb. The Balcony House tour is also one hour and involves climbing a 32 foot ladder, crawling through a 12 foot long tunnel, and climbing up a 60 foot open rock face with two ten foot ladders to exit the site. Spruce Tree House is open year-round, but during the winter months (November to March) it is accessible by a free, ranger-guided tour only. This one-hour tour involves a 100 foot descent and ascent on a winding path. During the spring, summer, and fall (early March to early November), Spruce Tree House is available on a self-guided basis only. You can take a 90-minute ranger-led tour of the Long House starting with a tram ride to and from the trailhead, between Memorial Day and Labor Day. On this tour you will need to scale two 15 foot ladders within the site and hike less than a mile. You can also do a half-day guided bus tour (www.visitmesaverde.com) which departs from Far View Lodge daily from mid-April to mid-October and costs $49 for adults and $38 for children.

3. Canyon de Chelly National Monument (www.nps.gov/cach) is located about a three-hour drive from Flagstaff, AZ. Known as the site with the longest continuous occupation, Canyon de Chelly was first inhabited by the Anasazi in the 4th century AD and Navajo people still live within the Monument area and farm the valleys the way their ancestors did. There are over 700 ruin sites, petroglyphs and cliff dwellings from the Anasazi and historic Navajo periods in Canyon de Chelly, coupled with stunning sheer cliff walls towering hundreds of feet up from the Canyon floor. The first pit-houses date back to the 7th century whereas the more impressive stone buildings commenced construction in the 11th century AD. The White House Ruins are the highlight -- a series of well-preserved buildings that lie beneath a 500 foot sheer cliff. Although managed by the National Park Service, Canyon de Chelly National Monument lies on Navajo land so entry is free but unsupervised access is restricted to the rim overlooks and a single trail into the canyon, leading to the famed White House Ruins. All other trips down or along the canyon, require a Navajo guide. The fee is $15 an hour for one vehicle (four-wheel drive is required), and $5 an hour for each additional vehicle.

Although many sites are accessible by walking, many visitors prefer to take a Navajo jeep tour or a horse-riding tour of the Canyon. Totsonii Ranch (tel. 928/755-2037; www.totsoniiranch.com) offers Navajo guided horseback tours and overnight camping trips into Canyon de Chelly National Monument. A one-night horse riding and overnight camping trip is priced at $335 per person (or $480 for single occupancy) and includes riding through the upper part of Canyon de Chelly for five to six hours on the first day; camping near the White House Ruins at a Navajo farm camp; a two hour ride on the second day to see the rest of Canyon de Chelly or a six hour riding tour up Canyon del Muerto and Twin Trails; an expert Navajo guide; and all meals. Alternatively, Leon Skyhorse Thomas runs Canyon de Chelly Tours (tel. 928/674-5433; www.canyondechellytours.com) which operates three-hour jeep or "Unimog" tours, or specialized over-night and extended stay tours that can be tailored to your needs. Basic three hour tours include Antelope House Ruins in Canyon Del Muerto and the White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly, plus options of seeing Kokopelli Cave, Petroglyph Rock, First Ruin, Junction Ruin, Ceremonial Cave and Ledge Ruin. Three hour Unimog tours run three times daily from May through October and cost $66 for adults and $44 for children 12 and under (a 10% discount is offered when paying cash). In your own SUV vehicle, Leon can guide you through the Canyon for $44 per hour for a minimum of three hours.

4. Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (www.nps.gov/gicl) is a 44-mile drive north of Silver City, NM (250 miles from Albuquerque) and features the 13th and 14th century AD stone and adobe dwellings of the Mogollon people, a hunter gatherer society that lived in the mountain regions of southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico from the third century BC. The remains of more than 40 interconnected rooms shelter within six caves located some 175 feet above the Canyon floor. Although these dwellings were seemingly only occupied for a short period (less than 50 years), they are nevertheless impressive and well worth a day trip to discover. A one-mile loop trail leads from the Visitor Center to and through the base of the Cliff Dwellings and from there it is a half-hour hike up a trail to reach the structures. The surrounding Gila Wilderness (the nation's first designated wilderness area) is run by the U.S. Forest Service and offers hiking, horseback riding, fishing, wildlife viewing and camping, plus there are several hot springs in the area, including Lightfeather Hot Springs, a 20-minute walk from the Visitor Center and Jordan Hot Springs, a six mile hike along a trail from the Visitor Center. Entry is the Monument is $10 per family per day, $3 per adult (16 years and older and free entrance for children 15 years and younger. Guided tours of the cliff dwellings are offered twice daily, at 11am and 2pm, June through August, and once daily at noon, September through May.


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