Deep in the heart of the Colorado Plateau is a vast landscape that contains the highest known density of archaeological sites in the nation—Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. Here, ancient cliff dwellings, great kivas, sacred springs, and rock art sites are spread across a rugged landscape.

The 178,000-acre monument in southwestern Colorado holds evidence of cultures and traditions spanning thousands of years, offering unparalleled opportunities to study and experience how cultures in the American Southwest lived and adapted over time. More than 100 years of archaeological exploration and research have led to more than 6,350 recorded sites representing all time periods of occupation, including Paleoindian, Archaic, Basketmaker, and Ancestral Puebloan, as well as historic Ute, Navajo, and Anglo cultures.

A Presidential proclamation established the monument in 2000, making it a part of the Bureau of Land Management’s National Conservation Lands. The BLM’s Anasazi Heritage Center is a museum of the Ancestral Puebloan (or Anasazi) culture and other native cultures in the Four Corners region. It is also the starting point for visitors to the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.