Tom Lyttle & Donna Smith Trailhead: Located opposite the campground. (1 1/4 miles east of the Visitor Center). Distance: 3 miles roundtrip Elevation gain: Mostly level Time: 1 to 2 hours Note: This trail provides a short easy ride to a Chacoan great house Permit required: Sign the register at the trail head. Wijiji is the most symmetrical of all the great houses in Chaco Canyon. The building contained about 225 uniformly-sized rooms, arranged compactly around two kivas. The rear row of rooms was three stories high; stair-stepping down to two stories; with one-story rooms surrounding the plaza. The uniform construction at this great house suggests that it was built in a single, brief constructions surge between AD 1110 and 1115. Several features typical of Chacoan great houses are missing at Wijiji. There is no great kiva in the plaza, although one is located 1/2 mile away. Wijiji lacks a midden (trash deposit). Another typical great house feature missing at Wijiji is the arc of connected rooms enclosing the plaza. Some researchers think the people never completed Wijiji, which would explain the lack of refuse, great kiva, and enclosed plaza. 
Jedediah Drolet |
Last updated: February 9, 2024