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Canyon View Campground

Beauty Privacy Spaciousness Quiet Security Cleanliness

KEY INFORMATION

CONTACT: 928-672-2700, nps.gov/nava

OPEN: April–September

SITES: 14

EACH SITE HAS: Picnic table, upright grill

ASSIGNMENT: First-come, first-served; reservations not required except for groups of 10 or more (contact the campground for details)

REGISTRATION: Not required

AMENITIES: Vault toilets, group sites

PARKING: At campsites

FEE: None; donations accepted

ELEVATION: 7,300'

RESTRICTIONS:

PETS: On leash only; not allowed on trails

FIRES: No wood fires

ALCOHOL: Prohibited

VEHICLES: 28-foot length limit

QUIET HOURS: 10 p.m.–6 a.m.

OTHER: 7-day stay limit/calendar year; firearms prohibited

Navajo National Monument is home to some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the country.

Looking east toward Tsegi Canyon

The Navajo Nation is best known for the austere beauty of the Painted Desert, with its rough, red mountains and color-striped mineral badlands, and the stark magnificence of Monument Valley. Between the two, a surprise awaits in the pinyon-brushed hills near Kayenta—the lovely gem of Navajo National Monument. Established in 1909 and managed by the National Park Service, it protects three Ancestral Puebloan ruins—Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription House. Built in the 13th century by the Hisatsinom, ancient ancestors of today’s Hopi clans, these are among the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the country, and remain culturally important for the Hopi, Zuni, Paiute, and Diné (Navajo) peoples.

When you first enter the park, stop at the visitor center to chat with the rangers, many of whom are Diné, and see the interpretive displays and ancient pottery. Artisans frequently demonstrate traditional crafts such as rug weaving, and next door you’ll find a gift shop specializing in silver Navajo jewelry. The visitor center also offers flush toilets, drinking fountains, and a picnic area. You can crawl into the nearby sweathouse and imagine what it was like to bathe without water and dry off with sand. Stand in the hogan, an example of traditional Navajo housing, then head out to pitch your own tent.

With two no-fee campgrounds at the monument, you can choose the amenities that best suit you. Sunset View Campground provides paved roads and parking tabs, wheelchair-accessible spots, flush toilets, a service sink and gray water disposal, and, of course, views of the setting sun. We recommend Canyon View, designed for tent campers who prefer a simpler, more secluded experience. Take a right as you leave the visitor center parking lot, toward the Keet Seel Trail. As you leave the pavement behind you, look for the employee housing on the left and the corral on the right. The Keet Seel Trailhead parking area is just below the entrance to the campground.

A slender thread of sites, Canyon View sits on a ridge between Tsegi Canyon and Shonto Plateau, and almost all of the sites do indeed command a canyon view. You’ll find only patchy shade in the pinyon–juniper woodland, but at nearly 7,300 feet elevation, the mornings and evenings prove to be cool and comfortable. Most of the sites are well screened. The first site is very private and set apart with a generous pull-through. Site 2 has a shallower pulloff but offers good morning shade, as do all of the sites on the east side of the road. Sites 7–9, 12, and 13 provide the best view of Betatakin Canyon. Sites 10 and 11 are group sites, available for free on a first-come, first-served basis. Situated in the center of the loop at the end of the line of campsites, site 11 is open and uncomfortably rocky. A large group here would affect sites 9, 12, and 13, which are otherwise quite nice. Site 10 is the better group site, being off to the side with a large, smooth area for tents.

While you won’t have a campground host, park employees live nearby. The campgrounds are rarely full—in fact, Canyon View closes during the off-season because of lack of use. If you come when only Sunset View is open, check out site 7, which is below the road and has a nice tent spot; site 15, which is very private at the price of a little hill climb; or site 16, which is nicely screened. The weather can turn cold and snowy in the winter, and no open campfires are permitted in either campground.

During the summer, the Park Service offers daily, free ranger-led hikes to the 125-room alcove at Betatakin (ledge house, also known as Talastima in Hopi). Allow three to five hours for this 5-mile round-trip hike. The less ambitious can spot Betatakin from the overlook 0.5 mile down the paved Sandal Trail. Along the path, interpretive signs teach you the names and traditional uses of Navajo and Hopi native plants. An additional 0.8 mile down the steep Aspen Trail allows you a glimpse into a rare pocket of forest lush with aspen and Douglas-fir. If you’re up for a longer hike or even a backpack trip, sign up for the 17-mile round-trip hike to Keet Seel (broken pottery, Kawestima in Hopi), the largest and longest inhabited of the ruins. The hike requires a backcountry permit, which is free at the visitor center. Only 20 people per day can hike to Keet Seel, so you should make reservations. The path brings you down to the riverbed, with 32 stream crossings and an occasional waterfall along the way. While you can do this as a day hike, you might prefer to backpack in and camp overnight in grasses and trees 0.25 mile from Keet Seel. At the ruin, a ranger guides you up a tall ladder and into the past, five people at a time. Inscription House (Tsu’ovi), the most fragile of the three, is closed to visitors.

GETTING THERE

From Kayenta, take US 160 southwest 21 miles to AZ 564. Turn right and drive north 9 miles to the Navajo National Monument Visitor Center. Past the visitor center parking lot, turn right at the fork and drive 0.5 mile to Canyon View Campground.

GPS COORDINATES N36° 40.977' W110° 32.548'