CHIMNEY ROCK
-- PREHISTORY and HISTORY --
 The prehistory "story" of Chimney Rock begins with its geology and continues with its inhabitation. The 4100 acres of Chimney Rock Archaeological Area (CRAA) contain prehistoric sites of structures built by ancestors of the modern Puebloan tribes, such as the Hopi, Zuni, Jemez, Acoma, Taos, Picuris or other Rio Grande Pueblo tribes. The sites include many unrestored prehistoric structures and a small number of partially-restored prehistoric structures which were built between 950 and 1100 A.D. in the High Mesa Village, the most recent of the Chimney Rock villages.
The Ancestral Puebloans are classified by archaeologists as belonging to the Formative Period of human society. This period is characterized by subsistence farming, construction of permanent or semi-permanent dwellings, production of a large variety of tools and crafts such as pottery and jewelry, use of storage vessels and rooms, and the development of socially integrative structures for community rituals and ceremonials. Formative peoples also usually conducted substantial trade with nearby groups.
 The Chimney Rock complex is composed of eight clusters of residential structures or "villages" and cover the time range of 850 - 1125 A.D. during the Ancestral Puebloan cultural development periods defined as Pueblo I and Pueblo II (Pueblo Indian History.) Seven of the villages are within CRAA, east of the Piedra River and are East Slope, Stollsteimer, Pyramid Mountain, Ravine, North Piedra, South Piedra, and High Mesa. The eighth village, Peterson Gulch, is located west and above the Piedra River on Peterson Ridge.
The prehistoric inhabitants of Chimney Rock first entered the North Piedra River valley area as Pueblo I farmers who had "leap-frogged" their way past other farming groups up the Piedra River from the south at the confluence of the San Juan and Piedra Rivers, which is now part of the Navajo Reservoir. They grew corn and beans, hunted animals in the region including deer and elk, and gathered wild plants for food and medicines. By 950 A.D. the people were moving upslope to the high mesa tops away from the valley farming sites probably to maximize tillable land along the Piedra River. Far away from the river, the high mesa dwellers utilized check dams, reservoirs, and diversion ditches to farm and provide drinking water. Additional advantages of the high mesa were the excellent viewpoint for observing the surrounding area as well as the sky and the proximity to the twin Chimney Rock pinnacles. This and the many resources (timber, large game animals, etc.) of Chimney Rock eventually attracted the attention of the major Ancestral Puebloan center at Chaco Canyon, 93 miles to the southwest.
The population of Chimney Rock seems to have expanded during the time when the Ancestral Puebloans had moved to the high mesa top. This was following a decline in the resident farming community and probably is attributed to immigration of Chacoans. It is believed that Chimney Rock became part of the larger Chacoan regional community as an outlier or satellite community during the time when Chaco Canyon became a ceremonial center to unify a dispersed population through pilgrimage festivals and ceremonial rituals. The festivals would have been related to the re-distribution of goods (corn, timber, pottery, meat, etc.) and the ceremonial rituals related to worship of the Sun and Moon. Chimney Rock itself could have been an occasional host to these festivals with its Chacoan Great House Pueblo serving as focus.
The Ancestral Puebloans moved away from the Chimney Rock villages and the valleys in the 1100's. No later buildings or artifacts have been found. Maybe the weather at this location became too cold and dry, enemies became too persistent, or resources and farming areas became depleted. For whatever reason or combination of reasons, the area was deserted by the prehistoric farming-based populations until the area's resettlement by colonists from Mexico in the 1700's.
Chimney Rock was known by the Spaniards as "La Piedra Parada", commonly translated as "Standing Rock." "Chimney Rock" comes from the formation resembling a stone chimney, which was a familiar type of landmark in the West to American military/pioneers. Interestingly, although there are two stone spires, "Chimney Rock" implies one stone spire, possibly because only one spire is visible when viewed directly from the east or west. The first archaeological researcher on the scene, Jean Allard Jeancon, eliminated any confusion by naming the taller spire "Chimney Rock" and the shorter spire (but more massive at the base) "Companion Rock."
The modern history of Chimney Rock Archaeological Area begins with the pioneer research led by Jeancon at the site by the State Historical and Natural History Society of Colorado in 1920-1928 with excavations and surveys. After a 30-year break, related research in the form of salvage archaeology was conducted from 1958-1963 in the San Juan Basin as part of the Navajo Research Project in advance of building Navajo Reservoir. The survey and excavation work found occupation evidence for Ancestral Puebloan periods from Basketmaker II to Pueblo II along the San Juan River up to current day Arboles, Colorado, or approximately where the Piedra River flows into the San Juan River. This tied in with the earlier archaeological survey work from the 1920's which came down from Chimney Rock to Arboles from the north and thus completed the settlement pattern which moved the people into the Chimney Rock area in the Late Pueblo I and Early Pueblo II Periods.
The Chimney Rock Project led by Frank W. Eddy of the University of Colorado in 1970-1972 was the definitive survey and excavation work at CRAA. The USDA Forest Service contracted to have four structures excavated and partially-restored for public visitation. (The four partially-restored structures are visited on the guided walking tour and include the Pit House, Great Kiva, Ridge House, and Great House Pueblo.) The discovery of the endangered Peregrine Falcon within CRAA prompted the area's closing in 1974 which extended for the next fourteen years with occasional group tours given by the Forest Service during the closure. Regular public tours provided by Forest Service summer intern guides began in the mid-1980's after bathroom facilities were added at CRAA. Beginning in the late-1980's, volunteer guides affiliated with the San Juan Mountain Association conducted the regularly scheduled tours in season. Facility improvements in the 1990's included construction of a barrier-free lower trail, paving of the lower and upper parking lots, and construction of the new visitor center cabin and two new bathrooms. The current volunteer group, the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association, Inc., was derived from the Pagosa Chapter of the San Juan Mountain Association and operates under a special-use permit and has conducted the public tours beginning with the 2004 season.
Significantly, in 1988 Dr. J. McKim "Kim" Malville, professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado, connected Chimney Rock to the practice of archaeoastronomy. He theorized that the Ancestral Puebloans probably used Chimney Rock's pinnacles in the observation of astronomical events called "lunar standstills." (Read Dr. Malville's narrative description of his Chimney Rock discoveries.) Only small-scale archaeological studies have been conducted since the late-1980's such that the still relatively untouched CRAA has many mysteries to be unlocked by current and future generations of archaeologists.
Detailed chronological histories are found at Chimney Rock Prehistoric Chronology and Modern Chronology.
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Hours of Operation: In-Season May 15 - September 30, Daily 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Guided Walking Tour Schedule: 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m.
Location: 3 miles South of Hwy 160 on Hwy 151 (map)
Mailing Address: Chimney Rock Interpretive Program, P.O. Box 1662, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Phone: (970)883-5359 Visitor's Cabin In-season, (970)264-2287 Leave Message Off-season
E-mail: chimneyrock@chimneyrockco.org
Download Chimney Rock Brochure
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