Home Destinations USA Arizona Northeast Arizona Sights Navajo National Monument

Navajo National Monument Review

Read our Northeast Arizona sights reviews. Or post your own.

Navajo National Monument

Address: AZ 564, Black Mesa, AZ
Mailing: HC 71, Box 3, Tonalea, AZ, USA, 86044
Phone: 928/672-2700
www.nps.gov/nava

Category: Parks, Archaeological Sites, Native American Sites
Location: Navajo National Monument

Write a review

Fodor's Review:

At the Navajo National Monument, two unoccupied 13th-century cliff pueblos, Betatakin and Keet Seel, stand under the overhanging cliffs of Tsegi Canyon. The largest ancient dwellings in Arizona, these stone-and-mortar complexes were built by ancestral Puebloans, obviously for permanent occupancy, but abandoned after less than half a century.

The well-preserved, 135-room Betatakin (Navajo for "ledge house") is a cluster of cliff dwellings that seem to hang in midair before a sheer sandstone wall. When discovered in 1907 by a passing American rancher, the apartments were full of baskets, pottery, and preserved grains and ears of corn—as if the occupants had been chased away in the middle of a meal. For an impressive view of Betatakin, walk to the rim overlook about ½ mi from the visitor center. Ranger-led tours (a 5-mi, four-hour, strenuous round-trip hike including a 700-foot descent into the canyon) leave once a day from late May to early September at 8 AM and return between noon and 1 PM. No reservations are accepted; groups of no more than 25 form on a first-come, first-served basis.

Keet Seel (Navajo for "broken pottery") is also in good condition in a serene location, with 160 rooms and five kivas. Explorations of Keet Seel, which lies at an elevation of 7,000 feet and is 8½ mi from the visitor center by foot, are restricted: only 20 people are allowed to visit per day, and only between late May and early September, when a ranger is present at the site. A permit—which also allows campers to stay overnight near the ruins—is required. Trips to Keet Seel are very popular, so reservations are taken up to two months in advance. Anyone who suffers from vertigo might want to avoid this trip: the trail leads down a 1,100-foot near-vertical rock face.

The visitor center houses a small museum, exhibits of prehistoric pottery, and a good crafts shop. Free campground and picnic areas are nearby, and rangers sometimes present campfire programs in summer. No food, gasoline, or hotel lodging is available at the monument. AZ 564 turns north off U.S. 160 at the Black Mesa gas station and convenience store and leads to the visitor center.

Cost: Free
Open: Apr.-Oct., weekdays 8-5, weekends 8-7; Nov.-Mar., daily 9-5; tours late May-early Sept.

Find more sights in Northeast Arizona »