Puerco Pueblo
Puerco Pueblo is a 100-plus room pueblo site located near the Puerco River.
Plan Around Puerco Pueblo
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Puerco Pueblo Details
Beginning in the 1200s, the Puebloan people began to shift from small, scattered villages to living in large pueblo communities. Puerco Pueblo is a 100-plus room pueblo site located near the Puerco River, which would have provided a good source of drinking water as well as water for crops such as corn, beans and squash. Puerco Pueblo grew to its largest size around 1300, when it may have been home to around 200 people. The one-story village was built around a rectangular plaza, and the rooms functioned as living quarters and storage. Most activity, such as cooking and craft-making, took place in the plaza. Several underground rooms, called kivas, were used for ceremonial practices. Entry into the village was via ladders over the exterior wall. By the late 1300s, climate change made the area inhospitable for crops and the village was all but abandoned by 1380. Visitors to Puerco Pueblo can access the site via a trail at the south end of the parking lot. The 0.3-mile trail is mostly paved and runs through the partially excavated site and includes a look at some petroglyphs. The former checking station has been converted into an interactive museum exhibit that is accessible on the trail.
Difficulty
Low
Distance
N/A
Estimated time
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Nearby Parks Around Puerco Pueblo
Compare nearby parks around Puerco Pueblo when deciding whether to expand the route after this stop.
Nearby Points of Interest Around Puerco Pueblo
Use nearby POIs to quickly expand your options beyond Puerco Pueblo while the map context is still fresh.
0.1 mi away
Puerco Pueblo Trail
Visitors to the Puerco Pueblo archaeological site must visit via the 0.3-mile, wheelchair accessible Puerco Pueblo trail.
0.2 mi away
Puerco River
Bisecting the park with an east/west flow, the 167-mile-long Puerco River is the main tributary of the Little Colorado River.
0.5 mi away
Ninemile Wash
East of the Puerco Pueblo archaeologic site, the usually dry Ninemile Wash flows east/west.
0.6 mi away
Dead Wash
Dead Wash connects with the Puerco River just north of the Puerco Pueblo archaeological site.
0.7 mi away
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
Originally serving as a thoroughfare for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the train tracks running through Petrified Forest National Park now service the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
