New Mexico/Colorado/Arizona
Ancient Puebloans: Mesas, Monuments, Canyons and More
Program No. 11010RJ
Delve into the history of the Ancestral Puebloans as you learn about prehistoric villages, explore the region’s national parks and visit important sites with a local expert.
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9 days
8 nights
22 meals
8B 7L 7D
3
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Arrive Farmington
Farmington, NM
4
Aztec Natl. Monument, Chimney Rock, Durango
Mesa Verde National Park
5
Mesa Verde National Park Full-Day Field Trip
Mesa Verde National Park
6
Lowry Pueblo, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument
Mesa Verde National Park
7
Canyon de Chelly
Chinle, AZ
9
Program Concludes
Albuquerque
At a Glance
Chimney Rock, Mesa Verde, Canyon of the Ancients, Aztec, Canyon de Chelly and Chaco Canyon — investigate these large archaeological sites in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico to better understand the early Puebloan lifestyle in the Southwest.
Activity Level
Let's Go!
Hiking up to four miles daily over varied terrain. Some hikes involve elevation gains and steep dropoffs. Elevations up to 8,000 feet. Standing up to an hour at a time at various sites.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Address how regional climate, geology and agriculture influenced the lives of the Ancestral Puebloans.
- Learn how Indigenous people faced the challenges that presented in each region, study their unique connection to the land and learn about the development of Puebloan cultural groups at each spectacular site.
- View the remains of an incredibly complex civilization and gain perspective on how Native Americans retain ancestral traditions while adapting to the present-day.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Richard Friedman
Richard Friedman is an archaeologist with decades of experience researching Chacoan culture, who has done extensive work using state-of-the-art technology for cultural and archeological resource documentation, management, and research. He has participated in projects with the National Park Service, the Navajo Nation, the Bureau of Land Management, NASA, the Solstice Project and the University of Colorado, and has co-authored several papers on Chacoan archaeology and the use of remote sensing technology.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Richard Friedman
View biography
Richard Friedman is an archaeologist with decades of experience researching Chacoan culture, who has done extensive work using state-of-the-art technology for cultural and archeological resource documentation, management, and research. He has participated in projects with the National Park Service, the Navajo Nation, the Bureau of Land Management, NASA, the Solstice Project and the University of Colorado, and has co-authored several papers on Chacoan archaeology and the use of remote sensing technology.
Sheryl Russell
View biography
Sheryl Russell was born to a farming family in Kansas. At the University of Kansas, she studied education in theatre and English literature, followed by decades of work in retail and communications systems in Dallas, New York City, and the California Bay area. Sheryl felt that she had “come home" when she moved to Santa Fe. Here she found a cultural diversity, architectural style, and historic richness that supported the next 30 years of leading explorations and study of native Southwest cultures and their history.
Natallia Fodemski
View biography
Natallia Fodemski began her career as a group leader in 2009. She started a small business, and led private and group outings including hikes and adventures all over Colorado State, gradually adding other states. In 2019, she graduated from International Guide Academy in Denver with a Certificate of International Tour Director and Guide. She also has years of experience working as a program coordinator at the Center for Creative Leadership and at Colorado College Fine Art Museum.
Suggested Reading List
(19 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Ancient Puebloans: Mesas, Monuments, Canyons and More
Program Number: 11010
Desert Solitaire
One of the great works on the value of the desert, eloquent and laugh-out-loud funny. Although Abbey writes specifically about his experiences as a ranger at Arches National Park outside Moab, Utah, his message is universal.
Pueblo People: Ancient Traditions, Modern Lives
Photographer Keegan, who has studied the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico for 30 years, compiled 417 color photographs alongside personal stories and cultural insights in this stunning tribute.
The Southwest Inside Out, An Illustrated Guide to the Land and its History
An outstanding guide to understanding the geomorphology of the Southwest, featuring the author's color photographs of canyons, dunes and other landforms.
Book of the Hopi
Thirty Hopi elders share their legends, ceremonies, history and language.
People of Chaco, A Canyon and Its Culture
A nicely written account of Chaco and its people. First published in 1986. Frazier interweaves ethnographic data, oral history and archaeological evidence in his classic portrait of the place.
Ancient Ruins of the Southwest, An Archaeological Guide
The third edition of Noble's indispensable guide to the archaeology of the American Southwest.
Pueblo Nations: Eight Centuries of Pueblo Indian History
An expansive history of the Indian Pueblos of New Mexico from a Native American perspective. The book explores the origins of the tribe to its current struggles to maintain sovereignty, land and water rights.
Four Corners Regional Map
This double-sided road map shows national parks, archaeological sites and attractions from the Grand Canyon to Chaco, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, Bryce and Zion.
Masked Gods, Navaho and Pueblo Ceremonialism
An excellent overview of Pueblo life and their many ceremonies.
Colorado Plateau, Wild and Beautiful
A coffee table tribute to the geological wonderland of "Red Rock Country." Award-winning photographer and writer John Annerino takes us through the echoing canyons, towering hoodoos and cliff dwellings of the region’s beautiful parks and reserves.
Anasazi America
A thought-provoking, engaging account of the rise and fall of Anasazi society in the desert southwest.
A Thief of Time
A mystery of stolen artifacts from an ancient Anasazi burial site set against a detailed depiction of Southwestern culture.
Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest
This illustrated introduction provides an in-depth look at the ancient cultures that first inhabited the pueblos and cliff dwellings of the American Southwest. Organized chronologically, it features hundreds of maps, mostly black-and-white photographs and site diagrams.
American Indian Myths and Legends
An illustrated collection of 180 traditoonal stories from all over North America.
In Search of the Old Ones, Exploring the Anasazi World of the Southwest
An exuberant, engaging account of archaeological adventures in the desert Southwest. Roberts investigates the factors that may have led to the demise of the Anasazi civilization and looks into longstanding controversies.
House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
Naturalist Craig Childs uses the latest research and his personal exploration of the American Southwest to consider what happened to the Anasazi, an illustrious tribe that flourished until mysteriously vanishing in the 13th century.
Moon Handbook Four Corners
A slim, comprehensive guide to the sights and history of Navajo and Hopi Country, Moab and Lake Powell.
Runner in the Sun
Nickles combined his anthropology background with all the suspense of a mystery to craft this novel about pre-Hispanic Indian life in the American Southwest.
The Professor's House
Cather's accomplished 1925 novel includes a story-within-a-story of explorer Tom Outland, a character modeled after Richard Wetherill, the discoverer of Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde.