Chaco Canyon is located up in the arid San Juan basin of New Mexico.
6,000 feet above sea level.
50 miles from the nearest town.
20 miles from the nearest paved road.
In the middle of nowhere, by most accounts.
(Photo by Russ Bodnar, http://www.nps.gov/chcu/planyourvisit/directions.htm)

It is so remote that it is one of the few remaining places in the world where the night sky is free of the light pollution from cities. Distant stars and galaxies can be seen by the naked eye, and our own Milky Way shines unbroken from horizon to horizon.


In fact, it is so dark that in 1993 the night sky was officially designated as one of the park's natural resources. There is even a telescope observatory that was donated to the park which is now open to public use.


There used to be people living here, a thousand years ago. Farming, of all things! In the desert! But apparently, it worked out well for them, for quite some time. Several hundred years, actually -- longer than the U.S. has been around!
But then one day they all decided to leave.
All that's left are crumbling cities of stone -- in the middle of nowhere.


There are three places where the steep walls fall away, allowing passage into the canyon. Many ancient roads converge along these points; connecting the ancient skyscrapers of "Downdown Chaco" with outlying settlements.


The South Gap trail was once the main point of access to Chaco Canyon.  It lies at the center of the park, near the largest of the Great Houses, Pueblo Bonito.  A thousand years ago, it was a bustling thoroughfare, connecting many important settlements.
But today it leads... nowhere.
The buildings it once connected, now fallen and empty.  Some, no longer even distinguishable.  Just suspiciously-placed mounds of dirt.
Even the road has vanished under years of blowing sand, leaving only the barest of traces.


Now, I can't tell you for sure whether this is the technical, scientific geometric centroid of the spatial points [nowhere], based on angles, distances, GPS signal triangulation or what have you -- but standing on the ridge at the middle of the South Gap, after hiking all day without seeing another soul, it certainly FELT like the middle of nowhere.


Take a look for yourself, if you don't believe me. (Or even if you do. It's pretty neat!) I set up my tripod and made a 360-degree panorama.  You can click the picture above, or go to http://www.swfupload.com/files/70715Untitled_Panorama4_out.swf to view it.
(You will need Adobe's free Shockwave Flash player, which is available at http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/)