Chimney Rock National Monument protects one of the most remarkable ancestral Puebloan sites in the Southwest, just west of Pagosa Springs. Two sandstone spires, Chimney Rock and Companion Rock, tower over a high mesa where people lived from about A.D. 925 to 1125, and the ruins of a Chacoan Great House still sit at roughly 7,000 feet with 360-degree views across southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.

The monument covers about 7 square miles, or 4,726 acres, of the San Juan National Forest and holds roughly 200 ancient homes and ceremonial buildings. Highlights include the Great Kiva, built around A.D. 1084, a reconstructed Pit House, a Multi-Family Dwelling and, at the top of the mesa, the Chacoan Great House Pueblo, a 36-room building with two kivas. It is the highest Chacoan site known, and tree-ring dates show it was built in 1076 and expanded in 1093. Both of those years line up with a major lunar standstill, when the moon rises between the two spires as seen from the Great House, a cycle that repeats every 18.6 years.

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and President Barack Obama designated it a national monument on Sept. 21, 2012. The U.S. Forest Service manages the land in partnership with the nonprofit Chimney Rock Interpretive Association, whose volunteers run the visitor center and guided tours. A paved, accessible trail loops past the lower sites, and a half-mile walk climbs to the Great House on the upper mesa. Keep an eye on Companion Rock, where peregrine falcons nest, and on the sweeping views of the Piedra River and Stollsteimer Creek valleys below.

The 2026 visitor season wrapped up on Oct. 15, and guided tours are scheduled to return May 15, 2027. The Oct. 27 evening lecture with Dr. John Kappelman has been cancelled. If you want to support the site over the winter, the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association takes part in Colorado Gives Day on Dec. 8. Watch chimneyrockco.org for 2027 tour and event dates.