Navajo National Monument

Navajo National Monument invites visitors to go back to the days when Native Americans lived in cliff dwellings.

Three monuments are all located in the Navajo Nation in Northeastern Arizona.

1250 to 1300 AD  

Long before the days of the Wild West, Native Americans lived in villages along cliff walls in Arizona. These cliff dwellings date from 1250 to 1300 AD, so these early Americans lived there over 700 years ago.

Keet Seel

The seventeen-mile round trip to Keet Seel, one of the three monuments, is made on foot or horseback. Advance reservations are required to this impressive village set on the side of a cliff. Soot from long-ago cooking fires still shows on adobe walls.

There is evidence that original cave dwellers kept wild turkeys along the back of the cavern.

Betatakin

Two different demanding guided tours lead to Betatakin, another impressive cliff-dwelling village. The hikes take between 3 to 5 hours.

Inscription House

The third monument is called Inscription House for the date, 1661, that was found on the wall in 1909. The Inscription House closed in 1968 because of its fragile state.

Hiking

Sandal Trail, a paved trail, leads to an overlook of Betatakin/Talastima cliff dwelling. Visitors may choose descend 300 feet on the Aspen Trail to see an ancient aspen forest.

 

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources:

Jensen, Paul. National Parks: A Guide to the National Parks and Monuments of the United States, Golden Press, 1964.

“Navajo,” National Park Service, 2016/01/30 http://www.nps.gov/nava/index.htm.

Tilden, Freeman. The National Parks, Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.