Aztec Ruins National Monument Trail Guide

Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico stands on the site of a large ancestral Puebloan planned community that was inhabited between 1100 and 1300 CE. This important site offers well-preserved examples of excavated Chacoan architecture, construction techniques, and engineering feats, as well as a look into its cultural significance for the ancestral people of the Animas River valley and their descendants. This trail guide invites visitors to experience Aztec Ruins National Monument from two perspectives. The white pages within the guide offer interpretations based on excavation, research, and consultation with modern southwestern tribes. The blue pages tell a poetic, personal narrative by a resident of Santa Clara Pueblo, one of several Indigenous communities descended from the people who lived throughout the Four Corners region nine centuries ago.

This trail guide includes a stop-by-stop exploration of the archaeological and cultural context along the half-mile path, winding through the expansive interconnected rooms of the Great House, Kivas, and surrounding plaza that made up the thriving community center.

• ISBN: 9781583692141
• Format: Paperback
• Trim: 4 1/4" x 6 1/4"
• Page count: 36 pages
• Published by Western National Parks Association in 2024
• Written by National Park Service Staff at Aztec Ruins National Monument
• Genre: Trail Guide
• Audience: General