Canyon de Chelly: Sacred Land, Extraordinary Landscape

Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeastern Arizona — administered jointly by the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation — preserves a canyon system that has been continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years. It is among the most significant cultural landscapes in North America. The 84,000-acre monument encompasses Canyon de Chelly, Canyon del Muerto, and Monument Canyon, all carved by seasonal water into the Colorado Plateau's sandstone. The canyon walls rise 1,000 feet in places, and the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings built into alcoves above the canyon floor — White House Ruin in particular — are among the most dramatically situated ruins in the world. The canyon floor is private Navajo land. Visitors may drive the two rim roads on their own but cannot enter the canyon without a Navajo Nation authorized guide. Thunderbird Lodge offers guided jeep tours and horseback tours. The guides are members of the Navajo community. The drive from Phoenix takes approximately five hours via Interstate 17 to Flagstaff, then east on Interstate 40 to U.S. Route 191. Allow two days minimum.