Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for November 28, 2024. This week we’re featuring a small national monument that protects cliff dwellings built before 1300 AD.
Navajo National Monument
Location
Navajo Nation, Northern Arizona, United States
Claim to fame
Established as a national monument in 1909–a few years before the creation of the US National Park Service–Navajo National Monument has long been known as one of the most impressive and best-preserved cliff dwelling sites in the American Southwest.
The park is small–360 acres (150 ha)–and its three ancient pueblos tell a story thousands of years in the making. The site holds spiritual significance for the Navajo, who protect it today, as well as the Hopi, Zuni, and Ancestral Puebloan peoples, whose ancestors built and lived in these cliff dwellings.
Reason to visit
Navajo National Monument is a cultural treasure situated within the Navajo Nation. Visitors can explore the park via self-guided hikes (only one of which provides views of a cliff dwelling) or visit the Betatakin or Keet Seel cliff dwellings via ranger-led tours. The third cliff dwelling–Inscription House–is closed to visitation due to rock falls and the site’s fragility.
Wild Fact
Keet Seel is the largest of the monument’s three cliff dwellings, in fact it is the largest Ancestral Puebloan structure in Arizona, and reaching it is an adventure. It is only accessible to visitors via a ranger-led, two-day, and 17-mile roundtrip hike.
These hikes are strenuous, seasonal, and subject to cancellation due to weather. Hike challenges include steep switchbacks, high heat, sand dunes, and quicksand. Participants must register in advance and be prepared with gear and supplies, including two gallons of water, as the drinking water in the canyon is unsafe.
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