Visiting the Navajo Nation: What We Did & Where We Stayed

As we planned our weeklong Arizona roadtrip, I found it difficult to find much information about traveling through the Navajo Nation—the best areas to stay, and how to structure a few days driving through.

This is the Navajo travel guide I wish I had, based on our firsthand experiences driving through the incredible volcanic landscapes of the vast Navajo reservation, with visits to Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, lesser known viewpoints along the way, and the slot canyons, hiking trails, and viewpoints in and around Page. I hope you enjoy the Navajo Nation as much as we did, you’re really in for a treat!!

✨ Pass me the aux: While roadtripping through the Navajo Nation, we listened to this audiobook, a fun Navajo-written novel which was a delightful immersion into Navajo culture and folklore. It’s written for a younger audience but we really, really enjoyed it as two adults (it would be great for a family, too!)

White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly in the Navajo Nation

Driving on a Jeep tour through Canyon de Chelly

📍 Quick tips for your first visit to the Navajo Nation:

⏰ Time Zone Changes: From November to March, Arizona and the Navajo Nation are in the same time zone. But since Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings (while the Navajo Nation does), there is a one hour difference the rest of the year. Double-check tour start times, opening hours, and hotel check-in times if you’re traveling in and out of the reservation!
🌯 Pack Plenty of Water & Food: The Navajo Nation is vast, and there are many stretches where you will not pass a town (or gas station) for an hour or more. Plan your meals ahead and pack plenty of snacks and water!
❌ Be Prepared for No Alcohol: The consumption (and even transportation) of alcohol is strictly prohibited on the reservation.
📷 Always Ask Before Taking Photos: Always ask permission before taking photos of Navajo people, residential hogans, or personal property.
🎟️ Tribal Park Passes vs. National Park Passes: Navajo Tribal Parks like the Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly are not part of the US National Parks system and all have their own entrance fees.
✨ Learn Navajo Culture & Stories: In my mind, taking at least one Navajo-led tour during your time on the reservation is a MUST to learn a bit of the historic and culture firsthand. Navajo-led tour options include:

☀️🌺🌿 Article Outline (Jump Ahead)

Day 1: Road Tripping to Canyon de Chelly from Sedona

Departing Sedona & Flagstaff

After leaving Sedona, we had a couple fun stops on our way to the Navajo Nation, and I chose to include them here even though they aren’t on the reservation.

The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff is beautiful, as you climb in elevation and watch the landscapes outside your car window transform from rusty red to dusty brown and then green!

Flagstaff gives you your first peek of the iconic Route 66, but we’ll see more of it in a few hours. We really enjoyed the Alps-mountain-hut-style atmosphere and coffee at Macy’s European Coffeehouse & Bakery, and delicious loaded bagel sandwiches at Biff’s Bagels across the street.

Walnut Canyon National Monument

📍 15 minutes past Flagstaff | Enter with America The Beautiful Pass (or $25 per vehicle)

Just off I-40, Walnut Canyon is home to over 300 cliff dwellings built straight into the canyon’s limestone cliffs 800 years ago by the Sinagua.

The 1-mile Island Trail here takes you right through 25 of the cliff dwellings on a beautiful natural “island” in the center of the canyon. This ended up being one of the most unique and interesting things we did in all of Arizona, even after seeing variety of other cliff dwellings—these were the only we could get so close to!

It’s worth mentioning that you’re at 7,000 feet of elevation here, and the 185-foot elevation gain as you’re climbing out of the canyon is best taken slow, especially on a hot day.

Standing in the middle of the road with a Route 66 sign

Standin on the Corner park in Winslow, Arizona

Route 66 & Standing on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona…

📍 50 minutes past Walnut Canyon | Free to visit

This quick detour might not be for everyone, but I really couldn’t resist 🎶 standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona 🎶 After all, I also couldn’t resist checking out the fabled Hotel California in Todos Santos, Mexico a few years back! 🦅

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, both are references to Eagles songs. In the case of Winslow, this little Route 66 town is mentioned in the iconic 1972 Eagles song, Take It Easy.

We were thankful that the tiny Standin on the Corner Park at the corner of 2nd and Kinsley Avenue in Winslow wasn’t overly crowded—just a few other nostalgia lovers stopped to snap a photo in front of the bright red flatbed Ford and giant Route 66 sign painted in the middle of the intersection.

Little Painted Desert

📍 20 minutes north of Winslow via AZ-87 | Free to visit

Now we’re finally entering the Navajo Nation, with one quick detour before a nearly 2-hour drive to Chinle.

Follow Google Maps directions to exit the highway at this unmarked (and unpaved) overlook. It’s just a 5 minute drive off the highway, and definitely worth a stop to gaze out at the otherwordly purple, rosy red, grey, orange, and white layers of the Chinle Formation’s mudstone, volcanic ash, and bentonite clay.

This is a free (and more convenient) alternative to the Petrified Forest National Park, which is about an hour out of the way but could also be worth visiting if you have extra time!

🌋 Navajo Nation Scenic Drive: We were not expecting to pass so many interesting natural monuments on our drive through the reservation, including towering black buttes, seemingly endless volcanic craters and basalt spires, vibrant red mesas, and so much more. Time your days during daylight to take in all the views!

Looking at the White House Ruins in Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation Jeep tour through Canyon de Chelly

Chinle: Canyon de Chelly Jeep Tour

📍 2 hours from Little Painted Desert | Navajo-Led Tour Required!!

The main highlight of our time on the Navajo Nation was taking a Jeep deep into Canyon de Chelly, an expansive red sandstone canyon that was continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years, right up until the devastating forced expulsion of the Diné (Navajo people) from the canyon in 1864.

Today, the canyon’s many 1,000-year-old Anasazi cliff dwellings and petroglyphs tell the canyon’s ancient story, while a small selection of farms and residences are homes for local Navajo families. Oh, and there are beautiful wild horses here!!

You can only visit the canyon with a Navajo guide—we went on this 3-hour canyon tour that ended up being a private tour just for us, with plenty of stories, history, and personal insights from our Navajo guide who grew up here.

Hotel: Thunderbird Lodge

📍 Right outside of Canyon de Chelly | $90+/night | Booking Link

As close as you can get to the canyon, Thunderbird Lodge is a lovely little motel that definitely felt like the best possible place to stay in Chinle. And there aren’t many towns with hotels on the reservation, so Chinle was a great place to stay the night.

There’s a small restaurant and gift shop on the property, but we chose to bring food that we heated up in the microwave. Remember, grocery stores and restaurants are quite limited throughout the Navajo Nation, so it’s worth stocking up on snacks and easy meals beforehand, especially if you have dietary restrictions like me.

Day 2: Monument Valley, Flea Market & Lake Powell Sunset

Spider Rock viewpoint at the Navajo Nation's Canyon de Chelly

South Rim Drive to Spider Rock

📍 30 minutes from Thunderbird Lodge | Free

Before leaving Chinle, we decided to drive along the south rim of Canyon de Chelly to the Spider Rock lookout—and I’m SO GLAD we did. Honestly, this towering 800-foot-tall spire has to be one of the most striking sights we saw in all of Arizona.

You can travel to the base of Spider Rock on one of the longer (5+ hour) jeep tours, or like us, take in the views from above, and even perhaps get a peek at some of the canyon’s wild horses far below.

There are a handful of other viewpoints along the canyon’s rim, but we were glad we drove straight to Spider Rock to get there before anyone else. The other viewpoint most worth visiting is the White House Ruin overlook—this is also where you can hike into the canyon (the only way to access the canyon legally without a tour guide).

Kayenta: Flea Market & Amigo Cafe

📍 1 hour and 30 minutes from Chinle

Another scenic road trip through the vast and vibrant ancient landscapes of the Navajo Nation takes you to Kayenta, the main town outside of Monument Valley. As you approach Kayenta, keep your eyes peeled for the towering Agathla Peak, an 1,500-foot tall volcanic plug that’s just as striking as the formations of Monument Valley.

Before heading to Monument Valley, we stoped to check out the Flea Market at Vendor Village (open on Wednesdays). Here you can find an array of turquoise jewelry, native herbs, crafts and FOOD, fry bread, corn, and more.

After we left Monument Valley, we drove through Kayenta again and this time stopped at Amigo Cafe, an ADORABLE historic southwest diner that also offers some great coffee to go! We were in a rush, but the food looked incredible—this is definitely where I’d go for lunch if you have time!

Monument Valley & “Forrest Gump Road”

📍 30+ minutes from Kayenta town | Navajo-led tour required for most parts of the park

Right in the middle of seemingly endless flat desert landscapes, Monument Valley’s towering buttes and mesas emerge from the earth in vibrant shades of red.

Monument Valley is called Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii (“valley of the rocks“) in Navajo and sits on the border of Utah and the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

The park is run by the Navajo tribe and entry costs $10 per person, but that really only gives you access to a single viewpoint (but it’s the best viewpoint) and the restaurant and gift shop at The View Hotel.

If you want to drive the iconic (but bumpy) 17-mile road through Monument Valley, see Anasazi petroglyphs up close, and immerse in these ancient landscapes’ cultural and historical significance, you’ll need to reserve a Navajo-led tour in advance. You can also drive the 17-mile road (but not anything else) if you have a SUV or truck, it costs an additional $15 per vehicle.

If you don’t mind adding on 45+ minutes to your itinerary, drive about 15 minutes north from Monument Valley into Utah to “Forrest Gump Point” for a photo with that iconic view from the movie.

To get the iconic shot, you have to stand in the road (which is very much an active highway!) and fight for your chance against other tourists. Alternatively, take a picture from the roadside or just skip this—I definitely felt it was overrated and our time would have been better spent on a Monument Valley tour.

🌅 Staying the night at Monument Valley? Go on a sunset tour of Monument Valley and stay overnight at the View Hotel, or nearby Goulding’s Lodge.

Hotel: Lake Powell Resort

📍 Right on beautiful Lake Powell, near Page, Arizona | $80+/night | Booking Link

We LOVED staying at Lake Powell Resort, its quite affordable and right on beautiful Lake Powell, with a view from our room, two pools, a hot tub, and restaurants onsite. It is about a 15-minute drive from town, but we didn’t mind!

Day 3: Slot Canyon Via Ferrata, Glen Canyon & Cathedral Wash

Located on the edge of the Navajo Nation (and the Arizona/Utah border), Page is a lovely base to explore some of the world’s most striking slot canyons, wash trails, and Lake Powell!

I share more about our time in Page in my dedicated things to do in Page article, but here’s a quick overview:

Instead of the more crowded Antelope Canyon, we chose an adventurous canyoneering-like journey through a slot canyon—HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended 😊 (for a full, unbiased comparison, see my Page slot canyons article)
The short hike to Horseshoe Bend Overlook is a must!
Check out the Glen Canyon Dam & Visitor Center to learn about the history, geology, and science of Lake Powell
Join the nightly Navajo Dinner Theater for traditional dancing, yummy Navajo tacos, and storytelling!
Hike Cathedral Wash (45 minutes from Page), it’s a fun trail of scrambling and hiking through a dried-up stream bed of wild layered, bubbling limestone formations, all the way to the Colorado River!
You can experience Antelope Canyon AND Lake Powell all in one by kayaking to the mouth of the slot canyon—details here!