This remote site is 4.5 hours from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. But the drive is beautiful, especially north of Flagstaff as you go through the Painted Desert. As I turned to drive the last couple of miles to Navajo National Monument, there were more horses roaming around than people. That set the tone for this visit to the national monument protecting Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription House dwellings built by Ancestral Puebloans. My first stop was the Navajo National Monument sign then at the Tsegi Point Overlook for my first view of the canyon dotted with snow on a cool February day.
From the visitor center I decided to hike the Sandal Trail. There are three trails you can hike from the visitor center but Sandal Trail is the only one with a view of the dwellings. It’s an easy 1.3 mile round-trip trail to a point overlooking a multilevel village home for a community of 13th century Anasazi farmers.
It’s a paved path so I’d call it more of a walk than a hike through a pygmy forest, which dominates the high semi arid plateau of the American Southwest. The trail is lined with beautiful dwarfed and gnarled piñon and juniper trees. The trail starts at about 7,300 feet in elevation and does drop about 100 feet in elevation, which means you have 100 feet of elevation to gain on the hike back out. Thanks to a recent snowfall there are some icy spots on the trail. I was able to easily navigate them without microspikes, but if you’re heading to this NPS site in winter it’s a good idea to pack a pair just in case.
The end point of Sandal Trail offers a stellar view of Betatakin cliff dwelling. Descendants of the Hopi people who built it called it Talastima, which is Hope for “Place of the Blue Corn Tassels.” Bétatakin is a Navajo word meaning “House on a Ledge.” The alcove the village is in is 452 feet high, 370 feet wide, and 135 feet deep. With the late afternoon sun shining on the alcove I could see why they built their home in there to benefit from the warmth of winter summer and then shade in summer. The alcove would have also provided shelter from the elements. I had the Betatakin Overlook to myself and enjoyed the view along with sounds of the canyon in silence. The colors of the Navajo sandstone ranging from buff to purple were especially vivid in the late afternoon golden light.
Including stops at sign, Tsegi Point, and museum in visitor center along with the easy hike, my visit was about an hour. The other two trails at Navajo National Monument that are accessible from the visitor center – Aspen Trail and Canyon View Trail are 0.8 mile round trip hikes are offer canyon views, but not view of dwellings. If you want to hike down to the Betatakin ruins, ranger-led guided hikes are offered in summer. Guided hikes are also offered to the more remote Keet Seel ruins. Both require permits and reservations. I only saw two other visitors shortly after I started down the Sandal Trail.
Author Jennifer Broome is on a quest to visit all 428 National Park Service sites. Navajo National Monument was her 209th site. Check out the Explore the Parks section for more.
