Ancestral Puebloan Ruins tucked into alcoves in spectacular canyons. The relatives of modern day Navajo Native Americans once subsisted here in the harsh dry desert. Around the year 1300, a major mass exodus of nearly the entire Southwest led to the abandonment of countless ancestral villages, including those here at Navajo National Monument.

If you don’t have a lot of time to spend in the park, take the short walk along the Sandal Trail to the cross-canyon overlook of Betatakin (“the house built on a ledge”, in Navajo). This abandoned village tucked into the shadow of an enormous alcove was once home to as many as 125 people between 1250 and 1300 C.E. The South-facing alcove provided shade in the summer heat, but allowed the lower winter sun to warm the pueblo. Naturally porous sandstone allowed water to seep through to the less porous rock below, where it exited the canyon wall like a miraculous desert spring.

Keet Seel

Hiding deep in the park is one of the most well-preserved ancestral villages in the Southwest. This village was occupied for hundreds of years and at its peak housed as many as 150 residents. Mysteriously, before it was completely abandoned many rooms were sealed with pottery jars full of corn inside them. The hike to Keet Seel (anglicized Kiet Siel, or “broken pottery scattered around” in Navajo) is long and strenuous. The 15 mile round-trip hike includes a 1000ft descent into the canyon, multiple river crossings (typically ankle deep water), quick sand, and miles of harsh Arizona sun. It is recommended you carry 8 liters of water per person. You are required to obtain a permit and orientation at the visitor’s center the day before your hike and if you plan on taking the ranger guided tour of Keet Seel they ask that you get the ranger cabin near the ruins by noon so that the ranger has time to give the tour and hike back out before dark. This may mean, especially in winter months, leaving at or before first light.

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