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Canyon de Chelly is one of the most beautiful canyons in the Southwest. It has a special quality to it that's hard to capture with words. I would call it transcendent. It doesn't attract the hordes of tourists that the Grand Canyon does, so you can really find a quiet place along the rims and feel one with Mother Earth and the ancient ones. A visit there is restorative.

Go and see the sights! We have yet to take a guided tour but, we will on our next trip. The scenery is breathtaking, insightful and humbling. So many different locations to drive and explore on your own. I recommend the Thunderbird Lodge for food, although Junction is delicious, Thunderbird was the group favorite. Be respectful of the wonderful people who live and work here. It is beautiful but it will only stay that way if the visitors (like myself and fellow travelers) don't mess it up.

The Canyon de Chelly is absolutely stunning. Mesmerizing. I have to admit that I was ignorant of the history of the Navajo and it was an eye opening experience to learn what happened there. We hope to return when we can take a tour of the canyon floor. Not much going on restaurant wise in Chinle but the Basha's grocery store has a good selection.

I have been all over Arizona and I believe this area is THE most spectacular! The views, every where you look are breathtaking. So many old ruins to explore, caves to enter and history to learn. Visiting here is like a trip back in time, before people threw trash everywhere.

Canyon de Chelly is better than I expected, although many of the rim drive (north and south forks) were closed and the information available through the National Park Sevice in cooperation with the Navajo nation management was non-existent, never updated to reflect partial closures. That said, the property itself was almost devoid guests, and we rather enjoyed the privacy and quiet that a very lightly occupied property afforded. Chinle itself has little to offer, but the canyon itself is fascinating and invites much more exploration and time than our two day allotment allowed. This is off the beaten path, and hopefully will stay that way.

Our visit to Chinle was specifically to visit Canyon de Chelly National Monument, and we found it FABULOUS. The canyon itself is Y-shaped and down-cut into orangey-red sandstone. As a result some of the vertical walls of the canyon are up to 1300' high. Tucked into unlikely places on the shear walls are the ruins of earlier indigenous populations, to whom the current local Navajo population, as well as other Native American groups, respectfully refer as Ancestors. You need at least two days to do justice to this wonderful geologic and historic landmark. Allow one full day to drive the roads along the north and south canyon rim, stopping at the various overlooks and taking the 2-hour hike down into the canyon at the White House Ruins overlook. The second day, we suggest taking a locally guided tour of the floor of the canyon. Many choices are available. At this level, you see the majesty of the towering canyon walls above you, the ruins left by former inhabitants dating back at least to the 1200s, and many, many petroglyphs along the canyon walls. We took the full-day group tour, maximum 10 people, which included visiting both the north and south arms of the canyon. It was booked online through Thunderbird Lodge (Google it for info), and our guide was Navajo, a careful driver, and brimming with knowledge about the local history of the canyon and its peoples.