$3,095 per person ($495 single supplement)
Experience the cultural and scenic diversity of the American Southwest. Our trip explores Native American cultures, both past and present, in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. Expert archaeologists accompany our daily visits to some of the region’s most famous archaeological sites.
View the schedule below.
Saturday, September 9
Join us in Albuquerque for a welcome reception at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel.
Sunday, September 10
We’ll visit the ruins at Coronado State Monument and then see the Conservancy preserve where Coronado and his men wintered in 1540. We’ll follow Coronado’s trail to Pecos, where we’ll explore the pueblo and Spanish mission site at Pecos National Historical Park. We’ll spend three evenings at the Hilton Santa Fe, located near galleries, shops and restaurants.
Monday, September 11
We’ll spend most of the day at Bandelier National Monument touring its cliff dwellings. We’ll also visit San Ildefonso Pueblo, famous for its black-on-black pottery.
Tuesday, September 12
An optional morning tour is scheduled at the Palace of the Governors, which was built in 1610 and is the oldest public building in the country. Today it houses a museum detailing the city’s history. We’ll spend the afternoon visiting Santa Fe’s museums, galleries and shops.
Wednesday, September 13
We’ll tour Chaco Canyon, one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the country. Located in a remote canyon, Chaco was the center of a great prehistoric civilization. We’ll visit Pueblo Bonito, Casa Rinconada, and other ruins. We’ll spend the evening in Farmington.
Thursday, September 14
In New Mexico, we’ll visit the Aztec and Salmon sites which feature the remains of pueblos that were built by Chacoan people and later modified and inhabited by the Mesa Verde Ancestral Puebloans. We’ll spend two evenings at the Baymont by Wyndham in Cortez, Colorado.
Friday, September 15
We’ll spend the day visiting Mesa Verde National Park, home of an estimated five thousand Ancestral Puebloan people in the AD 1200s. Many of their masonry villages were constructed in rock alcoves above canyon floors. The Mesa Verde people also designed and built reservoirs and irrigation systems on the mesa tops to provide water for their fields.
Saturday, September 16
We’ll travel through the picturesque Montezuma Valley. Along the way, we’ll stop to visit the valley’s seldom seen Ancestral Puebloan ruins including Yellowjacket Pueblo, a Conservancy preserve. We’ll spend two evenings at Thunderbird Lodge at Canyon de Chelly in Arizona.
Sunday, September 17
We’ll spend the morning on a jeep tour of the marvelous cliff dwellings at Canyon de Chelly National Monument, including Antelope House and White House. After lunch at the lodge, we’ll ride along the rim of the canyon for an exciting view of the ruins.
Monday, September 18
On our way to New Mexico, we’ll stop at the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado. We’ll stop at El Morro National Monument, just east of Zuni Pueblo, where early explorers (including conquistador Don Juan de Onate), Spanish soldiers and travelers carved their signatures through the years on the face of a prominent geologic feature called ‘Inscription Rock’ which has a spring-fed pond at its base. We’ll then climb to the top of Inscription Rock to visit the 500-room proto-Zuni pueblo of ‘Atsinna’ occupied from AD 1275 to 1300. We’ll spend the evening in Albuquerque at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel.
Tuesday, September 19
Participants depart for home.
Cost includes first-class hotel accommodations based on double occupancy (single supplement is $495), lunches, happy hours, expert Conservancy and special guides, admittance fees, tips, tours, orientations, background reading, and surface travel via air-conditioned bus with restroom.
Not included are meals other than lunches and travel to and from Albuquerque.
PLEASE NOTE: The tour is at altitudes of 5,000-7,000 feet. People with respiratory problems should consult their physician. People unaccustomed to higher altitudes sometimes experience fatigue and dizziness. A modest amount of walking is required. Some cliff dwellings are accessible only by ladders.
