A broken stone tower rising out of the sagebrush is what you see first at Kin Ya'a, and it is one of the strangest sights in the Southwest. This was a Chacoan great house, built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries by the same Ancestral Puebloan culture that raised the monumental buildings of Chaco Canyon, some forty kilometres to the north. What makes Kin Ya'a special is its tower kiva, a round ceremonial room built up four storeys high, much of which still stands. Its name is Navajo and is usually translated as tall house. It is one of the outlying sites included in the World Heritage listing of Chaco Culture, linked to the canyon by what archaeologists believe was a formal road.
The country is wide, high and empty: the eastern edge of the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico, about two thousand metres above sea level, with mesas, sandstone cliffs, sagebrush flats and enormous skies. Crownpoint, the nearest community, is a small town that is the administrative centre for the Eastern Navajo Agency, and it is famous for its regular Navajo rug auctions, where weavers sell directly to buyers.
Getting here is an adventure. The last stretch to the ruin is on unpaved roads and tracks that range from well graded gravel to rutted sand, and when wet the clay turns into a slick, sticky mess that is close to impossible on a road bike. Check conditions locally, ask permission where needed, and be aware that much of the land around is Navajo Nation or allotted land, where respect and permission matter. Never climb on the walls or collect anything; these sites are fragile and protected by law.
Services are thin. Crownpoint has a few shops and basic facilities, and the nearest dependable fuel and food are along Interstate 40 at Thoreau or in Gallup, a sizable town further west. NM 371 runs north from Thoreau through Crownpoint to Farmington, a long, lonely road with wonderful views and almost no traffic. Carry plenty of water, check the weather, especially in the summer monsoon season, when afternoon thunderstorms can be violent, and plan your fuel before you set out. At sunset, the tower glows red against the sky.