This northwestern New Mexico driving route connects major ancestral sites with volcanic and desert landscapes across a network of highways and local roads, much of it within the Navajo Nation. It traces human presence from hunters and gatherers of 10,000 B.C. or earlier to Ancient Puebloan communities between about 850 and 1250 A.D., identified as ancestors of the modern Hopi, Zuni, and Rio Grande Pueblo tribes, and also interprets Navajo, Ute, and Apache histories. Key places include Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Aztec Ruins, El Malpais, and El Morro. Along the way, ruins, rock art, living Native communities, and scenic formations reveal the region’s deep cultural and geological history.