[2][3] The Ancient Puebloans that lived in the area between about 850 and 1250 A.D.[4] are the ancestors of the modern Hopi, Zuni and Rio Grande Pueblo tribes.

[6] Native peoples left evidence of their lives in ruins of agricultural communities, broken pieces of pottery, tools, pictographs, and petroglyphs.

[7] Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was inhabited in the canyon between 850 and 1250 A.D., is the center and starting point for the byway.

To reach the Chaco Culture site, follow National Park Service signs from U.S. Route 550, turning first onto County Road 7900.

[7][11] Drive west on NM 53 to El Morro National Monument, a large butte that appears "like a huge ocean liner" on the horizon.

[7] Continuing west on NM 53, the Zuni Pueblo with six original sites was the goal of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado in his search for the "Seven Cities of Gold.

"[7] Gallup is located north on NM 602, where there is a mural to the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, Indian crafts for sale, a Visitor's Center, the Rex Mining Museum, and the historic El Rancho Hotel & Motel.