The Grand Circle Part VI - The Native Tribal Lands
- David Maiwald
- Feb 17
- 10 min read
Updated: Feb 19
Part II of the Grand Circle Series - Colorado and Arizona
In this article:
Antelope Canyon
The Navajo Nation as well as its surrounding smaller native communities such as the Ute, the Hopi, and the Zuni tribes make up the heart of the Grand Circle and consist of rugged and sparsely populated high-desert landscapes. The most distinct character that stands out when driving through these parts is the vast openness of this country which is interrupted only by the occasional mesa or canyon. An impressive stretch of land that offers great views, bright colors, and lots of history. Much of this is protected by a dense cluster of tribal parks, national monuments, and national parks which brings with it a set of rules and regulations that differ from the ones set by the NPS, the BLM, or the Forest Service. Most notably, tribal parks charge entrance fees that are not covered by the interagency passes of the NPS (such as the America, the Beautiful pass). Also, some destinations can only be explored via guided tours, which in turn means that it is well worth it to plan ahead before visiting.
One of these destinations is the world-renowned Antelope Canyon near Page in northern Arizona. This narrow slot canyon is one of the world’s most popular for a good reason. The seemingly endless network of intertwined ravines cut deep into the desert plains are made up of beautifully polished, cream-coloured sandstone walls resembling all kinds of curved and sharp-edged shapes. The combination of intense colors, dramatic shapes, and impeccably polished surfaces on such a large scale make the slot canyons of Antelope Canyon truly stand out globally. A part of the Navajo Nation Tribal Park System tours are managed and operated by privately-owned Navajo tour operators. The network is divided into two sections which make up the Upper and the Lower Antelope Canyons. I opted for a tour of the Upper Antelope Canyon during my visit in the spring of 2022.
After reading about both sections it seemed to me that the lower section was the narrower and darker of the two along with some steep climbing sections, which is why I chose the upper section that day. Both sections are easily reachable with a large number of tour operators located along AZ State Route 98. While there is no way to explore the narrow slot canyon individually, all of these tours offer great ways to experience this uniquely beautiful natural landmark. The increased popularity combined with the ever-present danger of flash floods have made it necessary to manage and regulate the flow of visitors. Despite the popularity of Antelope Canyon, exploring the canyon’s narrow twisted curves is an awe-inspiring experience.
Quick facts about Antelope Canyon:
accessibility: easily reachable via AZ State Route 98
good to know: access only via guided tours
Monument Valley
Along the Arizona - Utah border in the northern section of the Navajo Nation lies the most popular destination of the Four Corners region. Monument Valley is most notable for its distinct buttes and mesas that rise from the rugged valley floor, surrounded by sand dunes and vast open desert plains. This is the ultimate Wild West scenery which has been the dramatic setting of a number of Hollywood movies. With numerous viewpoints scattered across the landscape which have been named after film characters and celebrities, this is one of the most iconic natural landmarks of the U.S. Southwest. While the valley is a Navajo Tribal Park much of it can be explored individually both via an extensive loop drive and via a number of short hiking trails. Guided tours offer day and multi day trips into the remote sections of the park.
The valley is part of a large and rugged drainage basin along the San Juan River to its north which includes the Valley of the Gods in southern Utah and is filled with dramatically eroded rock formations. The entire basin stretches across four states encompassing much of the Four Corners region, and is characterized by vast distances, grand views, and long straight highways that run all the way to the horizon. All of this is set in the middle of a dramatically sun-burnt, intensely red desert. The park itself is located in the middle of an empty stretch of land with little to no towns or villages within a 20 mile or 30 km radius. The towns of Kayenta down south as well as the settlement of Mexican Hat up north are the closest settlements both about thirty minutes from the park’s entrance.
I have visited this park once in the spring of 2022 and have passed through this valley several times in the following years. There is a sense of endless freedom combined with an odd mix of adventurous excitement and oppressive melancholy that I feel everytime I return to this desolate yet beautifully barren part of the high desert. The long drive from virtually anywhere in order to get here always culminates in the exhilarating anticipation of finally arriving at this otherworldly place once the first buttes become visible in the far distance. However, if you stay long enough and are able fully immerse yourself in this harsh land full of heat, wind, and dust you feel how hostile this supposed beauty actually is and how small you become in the middle of this endless and eerily quiet stretch of land. A mysterious feeling that I could not shake ever since I first visited the region.
During that first visit I made my way out east from Page as part of one of my first road trips through the Grand Circle region and set up camp for one night in one of the park’s cabins along the western rim of the valley. It has been a long drive and a very hot day that late spring when I finally arrived. The drive itself was spectacular leading through extremely remote and pristine desert landscapes. While the stretch along the nearby highway felt quite busy with its tribal buildings, welcome center, and souvenir shops, the atmosphere inside the park was completely different once the bulk of the visitors left and that eerie desert silence slowly crept back in. The views towards the east were spectacular with the sun-lit buttes of the Monument Valley glowing dramatically as the sun went down. Beyond the buttes the views across the vast open desert reached as far as southern Colorado’s snow-covered peaks more than 100 miles out east. These extreme dimensions - the silence, the heat, the isolation, and those vast distances - seemed incredibly stunning yet overwhelmingly incomprehensible at the same time.
The next morning I set out for a relatively short and easy hike along the Wildcat Trail, which is a 6 km loop trail leading down into the valley and around the West Mitten Butte. The sun has been quite intense already and the wind was blowing ferociously. However, although the hike was quite strenuous with sand blowing everywhere, the scenery at the bottom of the valley was absolutely worth it. Once I was back I took to the roughly 12 mile / 20 km loop along the Monument Valley Scenic Drive, which connects some of the most popular viewpoints of the entire park. Among the highlights were the scenic John Ford Point with its unparalleled views of the Mittens and the Yei Bi Chei along with the distinct Totem Pole formation. One of the most iconic viewpoints, however, was situated outside the park along Highway 163 roughly 16 miles north from the park’s entrance. Featured prominently in the Hollywood Movie Forrest Gump, Forrest Gump Viewpoint was one of the busiest spots in the entire valley. But the scenery was absolutely worth it - both from the viewpoint itself and on the drive down the highway towards the valley. The highway running straight for miles all the way to the towering mesas on horizon made for a spectacular photo opportunity.
Quick facts about the Monument Valley:
main roads: Monument Valley Scenic Drive
highlights: The Mittens / John Ford Point / The Yei Bi Chei
best hikes: Wildcat Trail
good to know: part of the Navajo Tribal Parks system
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
One of the lesser known destinations within the Navajo Nation and the Four Corners region, Canyon de Chelly offers a grand scenery that is off the beaten track and seems worlds away from the large crowds at Monument Valley up north or Petrified Forest National Park down south. However, with its combination of ancient Native American archeological and historic sites, spectacular overlooks, and dramatic canyons and rock formations Canyon de Chelly is just as impressive as its popular neighbors. While it is located inside the Navajo Nation Reservation the Canyon is a National Monument and therefore part of the NPS system. Most of the canyon’s scenic overlooks can be explored individually via a paved park road. In order to get into the canyon tour operators offer guided hiking tours as well as Jeep tours that run along the unpaved road at the bottom of the canyon.
Canyon de Chelly is located just outside Chinle which is a rural desert town on tribal land and offers a handful of hotels and restaurants. Like much of the region’s tribal lands the surrounding landscape is characterized by vast open desert plains that are cut off by mesas and steep cliffs. A remote region that is a long drive from almost anywhere via rough roads and through isolated stretches of land, which is why there are considerably fewer crowds out here. Canyon de Chelly is a network of numerous canyons that are cutting into the open landscape, which gradually rises towards the distant mountains along the Arizona - New Mexico border out east. The main canyon of Canyon de Chelly National Monument runs from its shallow opening near Chinle all the way to the mountains with some sections cutting more than 1000 feet into the surrounding plains. Along the southern rim of this canyon lie several trailheads and scenic overlooks which are connected by a paved road. While this area does not seem as empty and eerily quiet as the Monument Valley, with houses and settlements scattered across the surrounding landscapes, this still feels like a primeval country.
I have visited the area twice - once in the summer of 2023 and again in the fall of 2024 - setting up camp at nearby Thunderbird Lodge both times. From there I set out to explore the many overlooks along the south rim. The overlooks became increasingly spectacular as the canyon grew deeper and deeper the further east I traveled. At some points I was able to take a walk right along the steep drop-off of the south rim. Many overlooks offered great views of the narrowly intertwined canyons below as well as far-reaching views across the vast plains all the way to the distant mountains and mesas to the east and west. My absolute highlight was when I set out to watch the sunset from the Spider Rock Overlook at the far end of the paved park road. This was by far the most spectacular viewpoint of the entire National Monument with massive rock spires rising almost 800 feet from the bottom of the canyon and a maze of side canyons spreading out into the distance all around it. In order to make the most of it I grabbed something to eat for dinner, packed a chair and something to drink, and sat down right by the edge of the overlook - watching the rock spires change their color in the light of the setting sun against the backdrop of towering storm clouds racing by in the far distance. I sat there for hours, enjoying one of the most dramatic shows that nature has put on all by myself. This experience at one of the most dramatic natural landmarks inside the Navajo Nation remains one of my personal highlights of the U.S. Southwest.
Quick facts about Canyon de Chelly:
main roads: South Rim Highway
highlights: Spider Rock Overlook / White House Overlook / Tsegi Overlook
good to know: South Rim open for individuals / canyon access only via guided tours
Mesa Verde National Park
In the far southwestern corner of Colorado, bordering and partially overlapping with the Ute Mountain Reservation, lies Mesa Verde National Park. The Mesa Verde formation is a large mesa along the Colorado - New Mexico border that rises from the Montezuma Valley and is situated just south of the town of Cortez. The top of the mesa consists of a heavily eroded plateau with countless ravines and canyons cutting through the vast open plains. Much of Mesa Verde lies on the tribal lands of the Ute, with Mesa Verde National Park making up the northeastern section of the formation. One of the major destinations of the Four Corners region Mesa Verde along with Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly protects a large collection of ancient Native American cultural and historic sites with numerous well-preserved cliff dwellings of the Pueblo culture which once lived all across the Four Corners region. This makes Mesa Verde National Park somewhat unique within the NPS system as it is the only national park within the U.S. that has been established to primarily protect cultural historic sites. This is where one of the largest concentrations of some of the best preserved ancestral and archeological sites in all of the U.S. Southwest can be found.
Located right along Highway 160 the park entrance and visitor center of Mesa Verde National Park are easily reachable by car. However, due to the area’s rugged and mostly inaccessible terrain, driving to some of the top sights located in the southern portion at the far end of the main road means a one-way trip of up to 40km despite the comparatively small size of the park. But it is worth it! Not only because of the spectacular dwellings but also because of the incredibly scenic drive up the mesa and across the plateau. When I visited the park in the late summer of 2022 I stopped and paused countless times along the way for those scenic overlooks across the Montezuma Valley. It has been a stormy monsoon season and the late summer thunderstorms made for an intense atmosphere as I was overlooking the valley far below. The views into the opposite direction down south across the vast and rugged plateau of Mesa Verde from atop the highest viewpoints along the way were no less dramatic. The clear skies south of Mesa Verde allowed for sweeping views as far as the prominent Ship Rock formation in New Mexico some 45 miles or 73 km away by line of sight.
Not surprisingly though, the absolute highlights were the impressive cliff dwellings clinging to the steep cliffs and hidden underneath rock overhangs or inside the caves in between the canyon walls. Isolated from the outside world and well protected from harsh weather and potential invaders, these structures were spectacular sights considering the fact that they have been planned and constructed in some of the most inaccessible places roughly 1000 years ago. The most impressive of them all was Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America which kind of resembled a miniature replica of a modern city with its skyline of multi-story buildings all of which are framed by a gigantic overhanging cliff. There were many other single houses and dwellings built into the steep cliffs of the numerous canyons in the area, many of them easily accessible from the paved Mesa Top Ruins Road. Set in the middle of a picture-perfect scenery where countless narrow side canyons mix with vast open plains, Mesa Verde National Park therefore offers an exciting combination of scenic landscapes and remarkable cultural sites - one of the top highlights in the Four Corners for some extensive sightseeing adventures.
Quick facts about Mesa Verde National Park:
main roads: Mesa Top Ruins Road
highlights: Cliff Palace / Balcony House / Mancos Valley Overlook
good to know: prepare for a long scenic drive in order to reach the park’s highlights
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