Chasing the Cumbres & Toltec

Pueblo Pintado

August 16, 2022

One of our favorite drives is the route across the res north of Grants — a land of enormous skies and endless red-and-yellow mesas. But despite all the times we've driven this road, we had no idea that we passed within two miles of an 11th-century castle!

Pueblo Pintado is a Chacoan "outlier" 16 miles east of Chaco Culture National Historic Park.

Two miles up an almost undrivable dirt road, it sits alone, devoid of any park staff or facilities save a single well-weathered sign.

It was the first Chacoan great house sighted by Anglo explorers during a military expedition in 1849, and they gave it the name "Pueblo Pintado", or painted village. Construction began about 1060, and eventually included more than 130 rooms on three floors, and 14-16 kivas.