CANYON DE CHELLY HIKING TOURS

Canyon de Chelly National is one of Arizona's most beautiful canyons. This unique hiking and camping experience offers exquisite scenery, solitude and the opportunity to learn about historical and contemporary Navajo culture. We'll explore ancient cliff dwellings, view spectacular rock art panels and visit breathtaking sights in Canyon del Muerto, Black Rock Canyon and Canyon de Chelly itself.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is located on a high plateau in northeastern Arizona near the center of the Navajo Reservation. The national monument is a complex of deep redrock canyons and broad mesas, and it holds great historical and cultural significance for the Navajo. The fertile canyon bottoms have seen human habitation for thousands of years and the numerous pictographs, petroglyphs and ruins are reminders of the ancient ones. While the style of living has changed through the ages from the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi to the hogans of the present day Navajo, the canyon's residents have always regarded this land as a spiritual place.

Our guides, Jon and Lupita, are members of the Diné (Navajo) tribe, the largest Indian tribe in the United States. They reside in a sacred place called Tsegi or Canyon de Chelly, and their land has been passed down from generation to generation in Lupita's family. Our base camp is on their property with a creek running nearby and immense canyon walls with Anasazi ruins and ancient rock art are just a short walk from your tent. Each evening we'll gather around "Grandfather Campfire" for stories of Navajo history and humor, and to learn about the Navajo reverence for life, nature and what it means to live in harmony and balance. On daily hikes, Jon and Lupita will introduce us to "Grandfather's Children," "Mother Earth" and "Father Sky." Our walks begin with a wonderful Navajo prayer:

In Beauty - happily - I walk,
With Beauty before me I walk,
With Beauty behind me I walk,
With Beauty above me I walk,
With Beauty all around me I walk,
It is finished in Beauty.

This is a unique opportunity to experience the Navajo culture from the inside. Lupita tells us, "Once your footprints are in the canyon, you are part of the canyon!" By camping with Jon and Lupita on their land and hiking with them on ancestral trails you will attain a deeper understanding of the Diné and begin to bridge the gap between our different cultures.