Wijiji ~ Chaco Culture National Historical Park

The Wijiji Great House Pueblo is a unique structure in Chaco Canyon that is a must to experience when doing a complete tour. The architectural design of Wijiji differs in subtle ways from the rest of the great house pueblos in this region, so plenty of time can be spent imagining the reasons why. There is no plaza border wall on this community structure and why there is no great kiva is a mystery that has been lost in time. Wijiji has a compact 150 room "C" shape floor plan design that was at least three stories high. The remains of several rows of evenly spaced rooms on each symmetric building wing can be seen and most are exactly the same size. Wijiji certainly was a very well thought out structural design that is fascinating to ponder over in person!

The hiking trail to the Wijiji Great House Pueblo was described in a previous article as being a three mile round trip over flat ground. Packing plenty of water for the trek will be necessary, because several hours can be spent meditating over the significance of this ancient great house pueblo. There is also a spur trail that goes a short distance from Wijiji to an ancient pictograph wall that is well worth checking out. The trek to Wijiji certainly will be worth the effort, so be sure to chalk this destination high on the list when doing a Chaco Canyon tour!
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