Canyon de Chelly is a National Monument that is often featured in the Arizona Highways magazine and a place we have been wanting to visit for as long as I can remember. The problem is that it is located in the northeast corner of Arizona on Navajo land and there aren’t any close full hook up RV parks. Dry camping is the only option or staying at a motel. Our last attempt to visit was in 2020, but COVID shut the National Monuments down in the area, so we had to change our plans. The Navajo Nation is still fully masked, so we pulled ours out to enjoy this amazing, rarely visited canyon. From Dolores, Colorado it was about a 3 hours drive.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Pronounced “Canyon de Shay”, the National Monument was created in 1931. It’s the only National Monument that is entirely owned by the Navajo Nation.
Less than 50 families still live in the park and access to the valley is restricted. Private tours through the valley can be arranged.
Visitors can take the North or South Rim drives. There was hardly anyone else there.
Oftentimes we were the only ones at the viewpoints.
It was so refreshing after visiting so many other National Parks and Monuments where we were waiting in line to take photos.
Sometimes there were very friendly Navajos selling handmade jewelry, always wanting to talk about just about anything.
Some of the trails were marked with feet that led to viewpoints. Sometimes there were sheep.
A Navajo legend is Spider Woman. She resides at Spider Rock and was the first to weave the web of the universe. She taught the Navajo how to weave. She brought beauty and balance to their life.
The closest town is Chinle. There weren’t many dining options, many places were closed or a bit too rustic to consider. We had lunch at a Burger King so that we could have internet access to check emails since we didn’t have cell phone or internet inside Canyon de Chelly.
Spider Rock Campground
This was dry camping. There was no electric, water, sewer, dump, internet, or cell coverage. There were a number of very unlevel sites that fit small RVs among the red dirt roads and junipers. Our Ford F-150 is a hybrid and has a 30-amp on board generator. It was very quiet, used hardly any gas, and worked great.
Our site was private and just what we were looking for. It took 4 inches of blocks to still be unlevel side to side, but that was okay because the views were amazing.
The owner of Spider Rock was friendly. A couple of stray dogs showed up about a week before we arrived. One was pregnant and delivered 9 puppies. He tried to feed them but had limited resources, so we gave him a bag of dog food. The dogs were young and friendly. Jake loved them. It was difficult not to rescue one of them, but they seemed codependent and an entire litter of puppies were a bit too much for us. The owner seemed fine taking care of them. One of the workers at the ranger station informed us that strays are prevalent in the Navajo Nation. They don’t neuter or spay, so there are lots of puppies and it is just the way of life there. It was absolutely heartbreaking for us.
A spectacular sunset.
A Navajo Hogan and another structure.
It was a full moon during our stay. We were kind of hoping there wouldn’t be one in order to get some Milky Way photos, but the full moon is always a treat.
