A short distance east of CHINLE , sixty miles southwest of Kayenta and seventy miles north of I-40, twin sandstone walls emerge abruptly from the desert floor, climbing at a phenomenal rate to become the awesome thousand-foot cliffs of CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT . Between these sheer sides, the meandering course of the Chinle Wash can be discerned by its fringe of cottonwoods as it winds through grasslands and planted fields. Here and there a Navajo hogan stands in a grove of fruit trees, a straggle of sheep is penned in by a crude wooden fence, or ponies drink at the water's edge. And everywhere, perched above the valley on ledges in the canyon walls and dwarfed by the towering cliffs, are the long-abandoned adobe and stone dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloans .

There are two main canyons, which branch apart a few miles upstream: Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de shay ) to the south and Canyon del Muerto to the north. Each twists and turns in all directions, scattered with vast rock monoliths, while several smaller canyons break away. The whole labyrinth threads its way upward for thirty miles into the Chuska Mountains.

Canyon de Chelly is a magnificent place, easily on a par with the best of the Southwest's national parks. Its relative lack of fame owes much to the continuing presence of the Navajo , for whom the canyon retains enormous symbolic significance (although they did not build its cliff dwellings). Casual visitors are restricted to peering into the canyon from above, from overlooks along the two "rim drives." There's no road in, and, apart from one short trail, you can only enter the canyons with a Navajo guide.

More about Canyon de Chelly National Monument:

The view from above: The rim drives
Into the Canyons

Canyon de Chelly National Monument

• Canyon de Chelly National Monument
• The view from above: The rim drives
• Into the Canyons
• History
• Practicalities

Arizona cities


All U.S. city guides