We have all ways wanted to see the remains of the "Anasazi" ruins located in the remote areas of the south west. History tells us that the people who build these fabulous cliff dwellings of adobe disappeared over 1000 years ago. Questions as to what happened to them remain for the most part unanswered. The Canyon walls extend over 1000 ft. high and are made of mostly sandstone. The puebloan peoples built their homes directly into caves and fissures of those walls some of the buildings are over 3 stories high and had many rooms.
In September of 2007 we journeyed into the Navajo tribal lands to the small town of Chinle'. Chinle' is about two miles from the mouth of Canyon de Chelly. Even though the Canyon is a National Park the place is wholly owned by the Navajo tribe and a few families who still lay claim and indeed live on the land. To go into the Canyon one has to have a permit from the National Park service and secure a Navajo guide. We stayed at the Best Western in Chinle and they arraigned for a guide for us. Visitors can drive their own 4 wheel drive vehicles but they still must have a guide. Our guide Don, whose family still uses the canyon during the summer tried his best to give us the history of the place and help us understand what it was that we were seeing.The biggest rule here is to touch and take nothing as previous visitors of the last 100 years have ransacked the place and stolen everything they could carry. Museums and private collections all over the world hold the booty lifted from these treasured places. The spirit of the peoples who have lived here for several thousand years remains. Carved figures on the canyon walls, petroglyphs and rock paintings give a view into a world before the calamity that was the invasion of new world peoples, Spanish, Mexican and American.

Every one we met in Chinle and Canyon de Chelly was open, friendly. The food at the "Junction Cafe" at the hotel was good and plentiful. The menu offered many fine Navajo dishes, fry bread, and lamb in many forms.

Highly recommend visting Canyon de Chelly and Chinle Az

We found the Canyon de Chelly to be stunningly beautiful and surprisingly free of other tourists. We opted out of the Vegas loop in favor of heading East to the Canyon de Chelly, then North and back to Flagstaff(and that other canyon) via Monument Valley. It was great! We took a tour through the Canyon de Chelly with Daniel Staley who operates deChelly Tours. This jeep tour takes you into the canyon and is well worthwhile!

June 23 - July 3, 2007: Family Road Trip with 13-Year Old Twins (Christopher and Stephanie).
O.K. So far, on a previous write-up, we've flew from CT to Las Vegas to acclimated to the time change. Drove our rental car in 106 degree temps to the Hoover Dam and took the 45 minute tour, continued about 3 more hours to the Grand Canyon. We stayed the night at Bright Angel Cabins and were one of the 5% of visitors to the Grand Canyon that actually hike down below the rim. Took the South Kaibab to OohAah Point for a 3 mile round trip which took about 1 hour.
It's now around 1:30 p.m. and we're leaving Grand Canyon to get off the beaten trail, so to speak, and head out to CANYON DE CHELLEY (pronounced duh shay). The drive takes about 4-5 hours from Grand Canyon to arrive in CHINLE, the nearest town to de Chelley and nearly on the New Mexico border. We drove through the Navajo Reservation and the Hopi Reservation with its small towns on the mesas. The views of the PAINTED DESERT are beautiful. It looks as if God took a paint brush and literally painted the colors on the mountains.
There are two hotels in Chinle but the closest to the Canyon is THUNDERBIRD LODGE. We are used to staying at 4 & 5 star hotels, but we also like adventure and getting "off the beaten trail" so we found Thunderbird Lodge to be DELIGHTFUL. It is, basically, a motel but constructed to look somewhat rustic and blend in with the land. Very clean and reasonable at $120 per night/2 queen beds. NOTE: Ask for one of the rooms overlooking the grassy area near the cafeteria/gift shop. The restaurant is actually a cafeteria where you choose your (basic) food and seat yourself. The eating area's walls are adorned with beautiful handmade Navajo rugs and other items which are for sale. Rest assured they are authentic, made by the locals, and of very high quality. The prices are definitely fair/reasonable for the quality of the work, but go for several thousand dollars.
Anyway, make sure you try the NAVAJO FRY BREAD as a "TACO" for dinner. The fry bread is topped with beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese. We all had this for dinner. Visit the gift shop; it too has some great books and crafts.
Prior to our AZ trip we booked a 4 hour Navajo guided horse ride into Canyon De Chelley through the TOTSONII RANCH located 20 minutes from Thunderbird: follow the paved road to the dirt road to their ranch. All along the paved road you can pull over and overlook Spider Rock, White House Ruins, etc.
We booked the ride to 3 Turkey Ruins which is not actually a part of Canyon De chelley National Monument, but only horses and hikers go here and only rarely. It was us and our Navajo guide, Gabriel, down through the cool canyon on steep trails and soft creek beds on the ranch's mustangs. Gabriel pointed out all the various plants and animals, spoke of the Navajo history, made sure we got up close to the petroglyphs and upon leaving the deep canyon at the ancient ruins gave a smoke blessing to the spirits. (Also, you can ride at your own pace and skill level. There is no "stay in line, go slow, sign a waivier mentality" to riding here.) The price is $15 per hour per person plus a $15 per hour fee per group for the guide. Teens can be picky and bored, but our 13-year olds absolutely LOVED this experience. Outstandlingly spectacular! Serene. A once-in-a-lifetime adventure. DO NOT miss Canyon De Chelley, the Totsonii Ranch and even Thunderbird Lodge.

One of the most wonderful places I've ever seen. You can drive ino the canyon, as opposed to just looking down into it. That gives you a completely different perspective. You need a navajo-guide to drive in, who will take you in a 4WD (WHICH IS NECESSARY, don't try this with a passenger car!!). We booked a guide through De Chelly Tours (dechellytours.com) and had Leander as our guide for our three hour tour, who explained everything about Navajo/Dine life, about the Canyon, his memories of it etc. I don't believe there was a question we asked that he couldn't answer.
There are also tours through f.e. Thunderbird Lodge, but that's with a larger group (less personal etc) and if you're with 3 or 4 people, you might as well pay the same amount of money and have your private jeep. Which is what we did.
That morning it had snowed, so the views of the Canyon were even more exhilarating. Although the Grand Canyon of course is much bigger en comparable to nearly nothing - i would fully recommend a trip to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced as di shea), because it gives you literally an in depth view of how life in the Canyon must have been and still is. Thank you Leander!