Puerco Pueblo

Dogs Leashed

While short in length, this trail is certainly not short on history or cultural treasures.

Travel along the Puerco Pueblo Trail to see a set of crumbling stone walls spring to life as a 200-person Ancestral Puebloan dwelling. During the 13th century, a water shortage in the area drove small clans of Ancestral Puebloans together into one large community.

In need of proper shelter and protection, these ancient people constructed the 100+ room Puerco Pueblo. Consisting of a central plaza surrounded by blocks of living space, the pueblo grew in size until the 14th century, at which point its population peaked at over 200 people.

Today, the pueblo remains as nothing more than a series of stacked stones and crumbling plaster. But, with some backstory and a little help from the imagination, don't be surprised if you start to imagine yourself wandering through the grand plaza of this once-magnificent ancestral dwelling.