Take a look at a highway map of the Yucatán peninsula, and you’ll see a broad swath of nothingness from the Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico — a seeming no man’s land marked only by state and national borders and traversed by one road that links the Mexican cities of Chetumal and Escarcega and the few smaller towns in-between. This remote jungle was once a vast network of shrines, villages, stone roads, and man-made canals that was a beehive of trade, agriculture, politics, and war for hundreds of years before it ever saw a European. But the cities and temples were inexplicably abandoned around 900 AD, and the civilization disintegrated. Trees and vines grew atop ball courts and pyramids until vast cities like Calakmul and Copán were subsumed into oversized hummocks.

Now, more and more of these hummocks are revealing their buried treasure as archaeologists unearth previously unseen sites and structures. These newly rediscovered pre-Columbian ruins inspired Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico, which all boast a share in this heartland of the Classic Maya period, to promote tourism to sites hitherto unexplored by the tourist horde. While visitors had long climbed the Pyramid of the Sun at Chichén Itzá, few outside the local villagers knew the twin pyramids and seven score stelae of Calakmul, for example. Tourism officials figured that if 8.8 million people already visited Mexico’s well-known ruins annually, then improving roads, attracting new hotels, supporting new archaeological digs, and promoting the “new” sites would attract even more people.

But progress is slow in the jungle. Roads that cut through the rainforest in the dry months are apt to be swallowed by vegetation when the rains come, as they do each May through February. Archaeologists who dig for buried treasure can only move so much earth in a dry season’s time. So it is only now that many treasures of Mayan architecture are fully accessible and fit for public view.

Many a pyramid remains to be uncovered, however, especially in the deep forest along Mexico’s southern borders, and reaching many of the ones that have been excavated still requires a vehicle with good shocks and a willingness to expect the unexpected. But once you arrive, exploring the ruins with so little competition from other tourists makes it well worth the drive. And along the way, if you’re lucky, you might encounter some of the modern Maya people, many of whom still live in traditional thatch-roofed houses and speak the Mayan language, in their rainforest villages a stone’s throw from the magnificent temples their ancestors built.

My family and I start our foray into the Mundo Maya, or Mayan world, with a trip to Calakmul, the granddaddy of recently excavated sites. It covers about 10 square miles and once housed upwards of 60,000 people. Digging continues there; one of the city’s twin pyramids has yet to be uncovered completely, so each dry season yields new treasures to explore. Best of all, it’s deep in a jungle preserve, where jaguars still roam but few tourists do.

After a four-hour trip on the two-lane Highway 186 from Chetumal, we decide to leave Calakmul until the next morning, and instead spend the evening touring the smaller site of Chicanná and enjoying the pool at the Chicanná Ecovillage Resort. As night falls, basilisk lizards scurry along the resort’s stone paths, and we take advantage of the hotel’s wine list.

The air is still cool and damp the next morning when construction workers halt us on 186 as they work on one of the high- way projects designed to improve access to the jungle’s archaeological sites. A few minutes later, we turn off the main highway into the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and pay our toll to an attendant.

Archaeologists believe that Mexico’s Calakmul, Tikal in Guatemala, and Caracol in Belize were rival cities of similar might and glory. A great thoroughfare once led from Calakmul to Tikal they say — a route for trade and, later, war. Tourism officials have planned a modern-day version of that highway to facilitate tours that include both sites. In the meantime, it’s possible to sign on with package tours, but travel between the two sites is difficult. Even touring Calakmul alone can be a challenge because it’s so large, which is why area guides offer the option of viewing the site on horseback. The easiest way to find a guide is to ask around in the little town of Xpujil, just east of the Chicanná ruins, or to contact the caretakers of the ruins in the area. You’ll need some Spanish to communicate with many of them, but English-speaking guides can be found on the right day, with a little luck.

Besides the twin pyramids and the city’s sheer size, it is the presence of more than 130 stelae — freestanding columns carved with glyphs telling stories of historical and religious figures — that distinguishes Calakmul. Their reference to a ruler known as Jaguar Paw prompted experts to conclude that Calakmul is Site Q, a previously unidentified city infamous in Maya history for its commercial power and urge to conquer.

After hearing horror stories about the one-lane asphalt road to this once-great city, we are pleasantly surprised. There are potholes, including a few that seem capable of swallowing our rented Volkswagen Beetle, but nothing that can’t be avoided, provided you’re alert and driving at a reasonable speed. The going is slow, but the wildlife on either side provides ample distraction.