Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

Roy&Lynne wrote:
Mesa Verde was on our list of places to go for sure, but I understand its also not particularly handicapped accessible, but at least we can see the ruins from certain vantage points Chaco is definitely on our list, but that dirt road sort of freaks me out and Aztec for sure. Thanks so much.

You can view some of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde from the rim without hiking down the cliff and there are some pit house ruins on top of the mesa that you can easily access. So, don't let the lack of accessibility stop you from going there--it's spectacular. Maybe give them a call and find out if they have any special provisions for accessing more sites.

Besides the Anasazi Museum in Dolores (10 miles from the new Mesa Verde Visitor's Center), you can easily drive from Mesa Verde over to the nearby Utah border to visit Hovenweep National Monument. There the ruins are around the edge of a small valley and the trail is generally fairly gentle.

Chaco is one of my favorite national parks, so I took my car club there two years ago as part of a week-long northern New Mexico tour. Of course, I nearly hit a bull elk standing in the middle of the road at the park entrance when leaving that night to go back to our motel in Farmington. But that just added a little extra excitement to a very memorable park visit!

And, yes, a short section of the Chaco NP road through the Navajo Reservation is very bad, but survivable! You just have to take it very slow on the rough section, going and coming. However, most of that long access road is a very good gravel county road and, inside the park, it is even asphalt-paved.