It’s the most spectacular National Park Service site you’ve never heard of. Canyon de Chelly doesn’t get the attention it deserves mainly because it’s not an official national park.
The area consists of three canyons, and is reminiscent of the Grand Canyon with attractions on both south and north rims, but probably best experienced by visiting the canyon floor.
Located in northeast Arizona in the Four Corners region, Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “de Shay”) is completely within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. It is the only National Park site that is cooperatively managed in this way. Some 40 Navajo families still live in and farm the canyon.
Access to the canyon floor is restricted, and visitors are only allowed to visit with a park ranger or an authorized Navajo guide. The only exception is the White House Ruin Trial. Unfortunately, this trail has been closed since 2020.
When we first arrived at Canyon, we asked about the White House trail and were told it was closed. It was days later that we learned we had come to the site on an NPS free admission day, and as such, the Navajo guides were conducting free tours to the canyon floor.
While we were disappointed to have missed the opportunity, even the views from the rim drives are phenomenal. The walls of the canyons are littered with ruins of cliff dwellings, that are best seen with binoculars from across the valley floor.
While the canyon has a national park feel, there are definitely marked differences as well. At almost every scenic overlook, there was a Navajo selling jewelry or artwork.
You could probably drive both North and South Rim Drives in a single day. The northern side is supposed to be nicer in the morning, and the South Rim in the afternoon. We set up camp, had a quick lunch and headed up the South Rim drive the same day. The 16-mile road has the most dramatic vistas with six viewpoints, ending at the Spider Rock Overlook. Spider Rock is an 800-foot freestanding two-pronged tower that has been featured in a number of TV commercials. Legend has it that Spider Women, an important Navajo god, lives on top.
We split up our visit to Canyon de Chelly with a day trip to Monument Valley. We had gone from a place few people have heard of, to a site that everybody has seen. Monument Valley has appeared in countless movies, mostly Westerns, including several starring John Wayne.
That wasn’t by accident. Harry Goulding was a sheep trader looking for new business opportunities and a place to call home. In the early 1920s, he and his wife Leone, who went by “Mike,” visited Monument Valley and fell in love with the place. Monument Valley had been part of the Paiute Indian Reservation, but when the reservation relocated, some areas of land opened up for sale. The Gouldings jumped at the chance to purchase a substantial plot of land in Monument Valley where they set up a trading post.
When the Great Depression hit, the Navajo Reservation suffered immensely. Goulding heard a movie production company was scouting out locations in the Southwest and decided to pitch Monument Valley.
The Gouldings spent their last $60 to travel to Hollywood and somehow got to meet the famous director John Ford. When Ford saw the photos of Monument Valley, he knew it was the perfect location for his next movie. Within a few days, John Ford and his crew began filming “Stagecoach” starring John Wayne.
Over the years, the Gouldings continued to host movie crews, photographers, artists, and tourists. They built lodge rooms and a dining facility to accommodate their guests. Goulding’s Resort now hosts thousands of visitors from all over the world.
The best way to see Monument Valley is along a rough 17-mile dirt road from the visitor center. The road passes many notable landmarks, including the Mitten Buttes, Three Sisters, North Window, and the famous Totem Pole, a slender 500-foot-high tower.
It’s about a 90-minute drive to Monument Valley from Canyon de Chelly. Once we arrived, we found a spot along the wall of the visitor centers and ate our picnic lunch staring at The Mitten Buttes.
We drove the dirt road, which was a tad rough. We were fortunate to be in our truck and at one point had to engage the four-wheel drive when we got stuck in soft sand. Nonetheless, many people make the drive in their cars.
It’s really hard to fathom how large the “monuments” in the valley are until you drive by them and are dwarfed by their mass. There’s only one area you can get out and hike, but Mrs. 123 wasn’t feeling well so we mainly just drove, stopping at the various viewpoints to get photos of the monuments.
Before heading back, we drove to Gooseneck State Park, which is a poor man’s Horseshoe Bend. The river in that region forms several horseshoe-type bends and the state park has a breathtaking up-close view of the formation. The park also has spots to park your RV for the night right on the canyon edge.
We chuckled at the attendant at the front gate who informed us of the $5 admission, but wouldn’t get up out of his seat to take our money.
“Here you go,” I said, holding a five-dollar bill out the window.
“Here you go,” he replied, holding out my parking pass, but never leaving his seat.
I had to put the car in park, unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car to complete the transaction. He did the same with every car. I guess he was only paid to collect the money, not to stand up.
The road between Monument Valley and Gooseneck also boasts Forrest Gump Point. It’s the location, with buttes in the background, where Gump ends his three years of running across America and declares, “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now.” The speed limit there slows to about 15 mph so that people can run out into the middle of the highway and take a picture at the precise spot, without getting flattened by a semi. I actually really dislike the movie for reasons I won’t go into here, so we didn’t stop for a selfie.
The next day we went back to Canyon de Chelly and tackled the north rim. The 15-mile North Rim Drive follows a side canyon called Canyon del Muerto, which has four overlooks. The drive ends at Massacre Cave Overlook, the site of an 1805 atrocity by Spanish soldiers.
The area is one we hope to get back to later in our travels. I’d really like to do the hike out into the middle of the canyon once it reopens. There are a few other sites around Monument Valley that we didn’t get to visit on this trip as well.
Days: 104
Miles Traveled: 13,395
Next stop: Zion National Park
