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Arizona
60

State of Arizona Parks

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USA Parks
Arizona
Northern Region
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
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Canyon de Chelly National Monument Canyon DE Chelly National Monument credits Share the Experience, Dave Salge
Canyon DE Chelly National Monument
Canyon de Chelly National Monument White House Trail credits NPS Photo
Hiking down White House Trail
Canyon de Chelly National Monument White House Trail credits NPS Photo
At bottom of White House Trail
Canyon de Chelly National Monument Yucca Cave Overlook credits NPS Photo
View of Yucca Cave
Canyon de Chelly National Monument White House credits NPS Photo
Ancient Puebloans built villages like White House that offered opportunities for trade, ceremony, and social gatherings.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument Canyon View credits NPS Photo
The Navajo people call the canyon Tsegi meaning within the rocks
Canyon de Chelly National Monument Canyon Hike credits NPS Photo
Visitors can enjoy a free ranger led hike into the canyon
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CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT
CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT
3 miles E of Highway 191 on Route 7
Chinle, Arizona   86503
(lat:36.1336 lon:-109.4694) map location

Phone: 928-674-5500
Email: park email button icon
For nearly 5,000 years, people have lived in these canyons - longer than anyone has lived uninterrupted anywhere on the Colorado Plateau. In the place called Tsegi, their homes and images tell us their stories. Today, Navajo families make their homes, raise livestock, and farm the lands in the canyons. A place like no other, the park and Navajo Nation work together to manage the land's resources.
Nature of the Area
Millions of years of land uplifts and stream cutting created the colorful sheer cliff walls of Canyon de Chelly. Natural water sources and rich soil provided a variety of valuable resources, including plants and animals that have sustained families for thousands of years. The Ancient Puebloans found the canyons an ideal place to plant crops and raise families. The first settlers built pit houses that were then replaced with more sophisticated homes as more families migrated to the area. More homes were built in alcoves to take advantage of the sunlight and natural protection. People thrived until the mid-1300s when the Puebloans left the canyons to seek better farmlands.
History of the Area
Descendants of the Puebloans, the Hopi migrated into the canyons to plant fields of corn and orchards of peaches. Although the Hopi left this area to permanently settle on the mesa tops to the west, the Hopi still hold on to many of their traditions that are evident from their homes and kivas.

Related to the Athabaskan people of Northern Canada and Alaska, the Navajo settled the Southwest between the four sacred mountains. The Navajo, or Dine' as they call themselves, continue to raise families and plant crops just as the Ancient Ones had. The farms, livestock and hogans of the Dine are visible from the canyon rims.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument was authorized in 1931 by President Herbert Hoover in large measure to preserve the important archeological resources that span more than 4,000 years of human occupation. The monument encompasses approximately 84,000 acres of lands located entirely on the Navajo Nation with roughly 40 families residing within the park boundaries. The National Park Service and the Navajo Nation share resources and continue to work in partnership to manage this special place.


Location
Canyon de Chelly National Monument is located near Chinle


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Directions
The RECOMMENDED route to the park is from Highway 191 in Chinle then turning east on Route 7. The park entrance and Welcome Center is less than 3 miles from Highway 191.

An ALTERNATIVE route is entering the park from the east via Route 64 from Tsaile, AZ. There are 3 overlooks to stop at along Route 64 before getting to the Welcome Center.

DO NOT use Route 7 from the EAST to enter the park. This road is unpaved and unmaintained between Sawmill and the Spider Rock turnoff. Using this road may lead to being lost and stranded without cell phone signal.

The Welcome Center is about 3 miles 4.8 km from Highway 191 in Chinle, AZ.

From Flagstaff, AZ, take I-40 EAST then Highway 191 NORTH.

From Gallup, NM, take Highway 264 WEST then Highway 191 NORTH.

From Kayenta, AZ, take Route 59 SOUTHEAST then Highway 191 SOUTH.

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Arizona
60

State of Arizona Parks

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