Navajo guide in Canyon de Chelly?
 

We will spend one full day in Canyon de Chelly. We will most likely hire a Navajo guide. We are an active couple in late sixties. Is it best to do some hiking with guide or hire a guide with vehicle. Will we see more with vehicle?
If anyone can comment that has hired a guide, which company did you use and did you drive or hike?

Several years ago we went to the NP VC at the time it opened and there was a woman who was assigning guides there. She went with us and drove our 4wd vehicle and gave us a great tour for the whole day. She grew up in CdC and now lives in Chinle, but the family has land in the valley which she spends time in. She was in her sixties then but still led hikes too and still hiked up the wall behind her family land.

I have no idea if that process goes on now, but a call to the VC would give you the true story. I know there are guides who go from some of the motels in town and of course the shake and bake tours from Thunderbird Lodge. I would opt for a private tour if possible.

When we visited, there was no choice...you got a guide whether you wanted one or not. Maybe things have changed, but those proud people are very jealous of their prerogatives.

The front desk at our hotel made the arrangements and we were very happy to have a private guide in their jeep vs being in a group on the "shake and bake" truck

You need to be a Navajo guide to enter the canyon. We hired Adam Teller of Antelope House Tours and he was excellent.

We must have missed the memo on a guide because we just hiked down on our own. I guess there is another area where guides are required...?

You can hike down to White House Ruin on your own, but you can't go into the canyon so see any of the other sites without a Navajo guide. There are many other sites.

The canyon is on Navajo land which is why it's a Monument and not a Narional Park.