Fifteen minutes past Aztec, a second Ancestral Puebloan site that gets a fraction of the visitors and none of the crowds.
Disclosure: Some links on our site are affiliate links. If you purchase a linked item, we will make a commission, at no extra charge to you.
What’s Here
Salmon Ruins sits just outside Bloomfield, New Mexico, about fifty minutes south of Durango and a short hop past Aztec Ruins. It’s a Chacoan outlier — built by the same culture responsible for the great houses at Chaco Canyon, extended outward into a wider network of satellite communities. The site has its own excavation history dating back to the 1970s, and the attached heritage park adds a broader look at the region’s ranching and homesteading era on top of the Puebloan story.
We walked the site in full. It’s not the most dramatic ruin in the region — Aztec’s reconstructed Great Kiva gets more attention for a reason — but it’s always an interesting stop in its own right, and worth the extra fifteen minutes.
Why It’s Worth the Extra Fifteen Minutes
Salmon Ruins doesn’t have Aztec’s reconstructed Great Kiva or its visitor volume, which is exactly what makes it worth pairing on the same trip — a quieter, less-performed version of the same regional story, without doubling the drive from Durango.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between Aztec Ruins and Salmon Ruins?
Both are Ancestral Puebloan/Chacoan sites in the same part of New Mexico, but Aztec Ruins is larger and more visited, with a reconstructed Great Kiva. Salmon Ruins is smaller, quieter, and pairs a Chacoan outlier site with a heritage park covering the region’s later ranching history.
Are dogs allowed at Salmon Ruins & Heritage Park?
Check current signage on site — as with most archaeological sites in the region, pets are generally restricted from the excavation areas themselves.
How far is Salmon Ruins from Durango?
About 50 minutes, just south of Aztec, NM.
🏕 Where We Stayed — Junction West Durango Riverside
Junction West Durango Riverside, Durango, CO | jwdurango.com
We based out of Junction West — All our drives were within an hour range. Disclosure: our stay was hosted by Junction West Durango RV Park. All opinions are our own.
Explore More
- Durango, Colorado: the full guide
- Aztec Ruins National Monument
- Visiting Mesa Verde National Park: Know Before You Go
Angela DiLoreto is a bestselling author, former Fortune 500 marketing executive, and a passionate advocate who successfully worked to change stalking laws in several states after a family friend was murdered by her stalker. That fight — for justice, for voices that weren’t being heard, for stories that needed to be told — runs through everything she does. She and her husband Vince travel the country by RV with their two rescue chihuahuas, Gracie and Loki, chasing history, great food, and the overlooked people and places that shaped America. Angela created Fitting in Adventure and the Historic Footnotes series because the best stories are usually the ones nobody’s heard yet.