Canyon de Chelly (Pronounced de Shay) is entirely owned by the Navajo Tribal Trust of the Navajo Nation. It is the only National Park Service unit that is owned and cooperatively managed in this manner. Approximately 40 Navajo families live in the park. Access to the canyon floor is restricted, and visitors are allowed to travel in the canyons only when accompanied by a park ranger or an authorized Navajo guide. The only exception to this rule is the White House Ruin Trail.
Reflecting one of the longest continuously inhabited landscapes of North America, the monument preserves ruins of the early indigenous tribes that lived in the area, including the Ancient Pueblo People (Anasazi) and Navajo. The monument covers 83,840 acres and encompasses the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument.
© Scenic Vista Photography
