Tag Archives: Native American

New Mexico

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

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Overview

These expansive ruins built in the desert between AD850-1150 represent the best collection of Ancestral Puebloan architecture in the southwest U.S.  Over 400 miles of historic roads led to this ceremonial center.  Its multiple great houses were first protected in 1907 and can take days to explore fully. 

Highlights

Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, petroglyphs, supernova pictograph

Must-Do Activity

Walking through the short doorways inside D-shaped Pueblo Bonito, you can admire the intricacy of the walls that have stood over 1,000 years.  So much effort was put into building monumental structures in this challenging locale, then it was mysteriously abandoned, making this remarkable park is an awesome place to ponder human civilization, past and future.

Best Trail

A free backcountry permit is required to hike all trails in the park.  Our favorite passes Kin Kletso and Casa Chiquita 3 miles one-way to a unique pictograph that may depict a supernova that occurred in AD1054.

Instagram-worthy Photo

While mostly made of mud bricks, the wood used in the structures had to be carried over 50 miles from the nearest forests to reach this spot.  An estimated 200,000 trees were moved over 300 years of construction without the use of pack animals or wheels.

Peak Season

Summer, though it can be hot with no shade.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/chcu/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$25 per vehicle or America The Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

All access roads to the park are dirt, with the recommended entry route via County Roads 7900 and 7950, 21 miles west of Highway 550.  The roads from the south are more difficult, especially when wet.

Camping

The small Gallo Campground lies within the park, but we recommend the free campground in Angel Peak Recreation Area run by the Bureau of Land Management east of Highway 550.

  • From your first view of Fajada Butte, you will feel this is a special place
  • Scott and his mother at Chetro Ketl
  • The awe-inspiring great kiva at Chetro Ketl
  • Pueblo Bonito
  • Supernova pictograph
  • Raven above a picnic shelter
  • Elk herd in December

Explore More – Why do visitors strive to arrive for the summer and winter solstices each year?

Ohio

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

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Overview

The Hopewell Culture was found in southern Ohio from approximately 2,200 to 1,500 years before present.  Sites are identified by their construction of geometric enclosures made of earth, primarily for burials.  Many earth mounds were plowed under for farms or destroyed during construction of an army base in Chillicothe during the 1910s, which increased awareness of these archaeological treasures.  In 1923, it was protected as Mound City Group National Monument and in 1992 expanded to become Hopewell Culture National Historical Park.

Highlights

Indian mounds, museum, film from 2016

Must-Do Activity

The National Park Service (NPS) visitor center in Chillicothe is small but has had recent updates, including the excellent film and displays of beautifully intricate artwork in the museum.  From there you can walk to the Mound City Group on the Scioto River.  Most of these 23 mounds are less than four feet tall, but the largest mound in the area was 33 feet high. 

Best Trail

At separate portions of the National Historical Park, Tri-County Triangle bike path passes near the Hopewell Mound Group and the Ohio Historical Society maintains Seip Earthworks, 17 miles west of Chillicothe on Highway 50.  Two other protected earthworks are closed to the public.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The Hopewell Culture must have had an extensive trading network to obtain the shells, copper, obsidian, and sharks’ teeth which have been excavated from their burial mounds and displayed artfully in the NPS museum.

Peak Season

Open year round

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/hocu/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved or good gravel

Camping

There are private campgrounds in Chillicothe and state parks within 30 miles, including the scenic Hocking Hills.

  • Mounds were reconstructed following archaeological excavation in the 1920s
  • You’ve got to respect the buckeye tree when traveling in the Buckeye State
  • A rainy spring morning
  • Raven!
  • Wondon at the offsite Hopewell Mound Group

Explore More – Where in today’s United States of America did the copper and obsidian found here originate?

Louisiana

Poverty Point National Monument

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Overview

Mound builders historically settled near major rivers, especially the Ohio and Mississippi, because the floodplains provided fertile soil for farming.  However, Poverty Point was settled 3,700 years ago by hunter-gatherers so efficient they did not need agriculture to provide leisure time.  They built a city with a population estimated at 1,500 along Bayou Macon in northeast Louisiana. 

Highlights

72-foot tall Mound A, film, tram tour

Must-Do Activity

A guided tram ride with a State Park ranger is included in your admission fee, which in addition to the film shown in the State Park visitor center is the best way to learn about this site.  The tram tour does not stop to allow visitors to climb Mound A, so you will have to return in your own vehicle.

Best Trail

A stairway leads to the top of Mound A, the most impressive mound at 72-feet tall in the shape of a bird with a 70-foot wide base.  It required approximately 15-million basketloads of soil to complete.  They had no wheelbarrows or domesticated animals for assistance, so each basket was carried by hand to form the largest manmade structure in North America at the time.  No wonder this site was chosen in 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The inhabitants constructed other mounds and built their houses atop concentric rings in a semi-circle D-shape facing towards Bayou Macon.  This pattern is best seen from atop Mound A.

Peak Season

The tram tour operates March through October.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/popo/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$4 per adult or America The Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There are private campgrounds nearby or 40 miles away is Chemin-A-Haut State Park.

  • Mound A
  • Tiff atop Mound A
  • Subtle ridges where houses once stood
  • Inside the museum there are artifacts like these decorated cubes and balls
  • The D-shaped layout of the town
  • Poverty Point was named a World Heritage Site in 2014, the 22nd in the U.S.A.

Explore More – Why will you not find any National Park Service logos at this National Monument?

Texas

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument

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Overview

Quarrying in this part of the panhandle of Texas dates back 13,000 years to the last Ice Age.  The flint found here was especially good for making spear points and was traded across the continent over the centuries.  However, the harsh climate meant few humans lived here until recently, except between AD1200 and 1450.  Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument is jointly managed with Lake Meredith National Recreation Area by the National Park Service (NPS).

Highlights

Flint knapping demonstrations, 10-minute film, ranger-guided tour of quarries

Must-Do Activity

Outside the NPS visitor center, dedicated park rangers frequently demonstrate the art of knapping points from flint blanks (not from within park boundaries) and other primitive survival skills. 

Best Trail

We recommend you take the free ranger-guided tour (offered twice daily) up to the quarries to get the full experience.  It is a bit of a climb, but is the only way access the sites.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The flint here not only holds a great edge, it is also beautifully colored.  The rangers will be happy to let you take rock samples home from knapping demonstrations (since the flint is not from within park boundaries).

Peak Season

Spring and fall, as it can be very hot in the summer.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/alfl/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Paved to the National Monument and many good dirt roads surround Lake Meredith National Recreation Area.

Camping

Free primitive camping is available around Lake Meredith where there are many dirt roads to explore, as well as developed campgrounds (fee).


  • Throughout the day, NPS rangers demonstrate flint knapping and fire starting
  • Alibates flint is very hard
  • This flint outcrop has been mined for millennia

  • For 13,000 years humans have quarried flint here to create millions of tools

Explore More – What is the origin of the interesting name “Alibates?”

Alabama

Russell Cave National Monument

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Overview

Humans have been visiting Russell Cave in northeast Alabama since about the time its limestone roof collapsed creating an entrance around 10,000 years ago.  A timeline of human invention was preserved in the floor of this hunting camp for millennia, from atlatls to bows, pottery to pump drills.  The park rangers were the friendliest we encountered during Pretirement and often offer demonstrations of prehistoric tools and weapons.

Highlights

Museum with American Indian artifacts, boardwalk to cave entrance, nature trails

Must-Do Activity

There are a select few artifacts displayed on site in the National Park Service (NPS) visitor center.  From there a short boardwalk leads through the forest to an overlook of the archaeological digs at the cave entrance, which you cannot enter. 

Best Trail

Two nature trails (0.6 and 1.2 miles long) split off from the boardwalk to explore the surrounding hills.

Instagram-worthy Photo

This cave is not famous for its pretty cave formations, but for its incredible archaeological record.  If you want to see beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, I recommend you head west to the impressive Cathedral Caverns State Park.

Peak Season

Summer, when it can be muggy and buggy.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/ruca/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved, but RVs are not recommended on Highway 156 if entering from the north.

Camping

DeSoto State Park has a campground and primitive camping is allowed at three sites in nearby Little River Canyon National Preserve.

  • A limestone sinkhole on a nature trail
  • Scott with the champion blue ash tree (the largest in Alabama)

Explore More – How far down into the cave floor did archaeologists dig in the 1950s?