Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Katelynn Adams
Jun 20, 2023
3 min read

Bucket List Progress

Now it was originally my intention to put all my National Monumnet visits in one single post because Arizona has so many of them, but due to this one being my absolute favorite of them all - I have granted it its own post! Plus, this National Monument was huge, and I spent an entire day exploring it, so I feel this is warranted!

South Rim

I started my exploration with the South Rim. I admit I did not wake up as early as I had wanted to; and as this is the more popular of the two canyon rims; I wanted to make sure I saw everything this side had to offer before moving to the less popular rim! That and Spider Rock is the last viewpoint on the South Rim and the most popular - for obvious reasons too; see the photo above! So, I started there and made my way back towards the center!

Spider Rock Overlook

During this trip I was not a believer of "save the best for last" - nope, not at all! And I was not the least bit sad about it! Spider Rock was everything I wanted it to be and more! The overlook led to two different viewpoints with a large area in-between that had no railings!!!! *eeekkk* You will come to learn those unguarded areas are my favorite because obviously nobody wants railings in photos!!!

Yes, yes, yes! I know to be safe and take precautions - falling off a cliff is actually something I think about all the time; especially when I travel alone! I am fully aware of how little help I will have, should anything actually happen to me! And I do choose my sitting locations very carefully and I test any and all suspicious looking rocks before stepping fully onto them. With that lovely disclaimer out of the way - the second and further most overlook of the two was left more natural looking than the first one (with railings). NPS opted to leave a lot of large stones and boulders (that look as if they were there before it was ever even an overlook) as impromptu "railings" for visitors - these I enjoyed climbing around immensely! And based on the surrounding footprints - I was not alone is this maneuvering!

The view below is the very one that had me making an impromptu 5.5hr drive through the desert in the middle of the night! Worth it wouldn't you say?

I loved this viewpoint so much - that I actually drove all the way back at sunset to try and get some shots of it at dusk! Instead, I caught an incoming storm! While the colors are not as nice as a sunset would have been - the view was just as miraculous as ever!

Other Overlooks

There were multiple other overlooks on the South Rim and I stopped at every single one of them (that was open)! None were as jaw dropping as the first but they should be shared none the less! Below is a gallery of the other overlooks! If you have the time I strongly suggest hitting them all!

The overlook and hike down to The White House Ruins was however, closed and blocked off. They said the trail is closed for maintenance, and they do not when it will be opening up again. I will admit there was plenty to see without that stop though!

North Rim

After I finished visiting all the overlooks on the South Rim - I made my way to the end of the North Rim to visit all of the additional ruins and overlooks too. And while it is the less popular of the two - I still found some gorgeous views!