So many people have never heard of it and most mispronounce it. So lets start with the pronunciation: De Chelly sounds like Dee SHAY. It is in an out of the way part of Arizona between Monument Valley and the Four Corners Region.
There is a campground that used to be free, then bumped up to $5 and now is $10 per night. It is woodsy and shaded with no hookups. Quiet and peaceful. The National Parks System used to run it but now the Navajos are in charge as it lies within the Navajo Nation. You can drive the north and south rims of the canyon but no one is allowed on the canyon floor without a guide. Up until recently people lived on the floor but now there are only a few farms down there and no one actually lives full time there. There are many reasons and I will go into a few of them.
We entered the canyon with our guide, Francis, who grew up on the canyon floor. She was very knowledgeable and anxious to teach us about her canyon. We traveled in a new Denali 4x4...a pretty sweet ride considering we were in and out of the river that snakes through the canyon at least 2 dozen times. Our tour with her lasted 3 hours and we learned so much.
The canyon has many green trees growing along the river bed. This is one of the reasons that the people had to move. Only the Pinyon Pines and the Junipers are indigenous. The beautiful Tamarisk, Cottonwoods and Rushing Olive that provide so much wonderful shade were all brought in by "others". The trees multiply so fast and drink so much water that the people who lived in the canyon can no longer get enough water to sustain their lives. The government has come along and begun to cut down the trees but since the trunk roots run deep they just grow back. So they put chemicals on them to kill them. Then the chemicals leached into the water. so they can no longer dig their wells as it is now contaminated. See the problem?
She showed us places she played as a child and the many ruins and cliff dwellings that run throughout the canyon. There were over 700 dwellings but back in the 1960's we apparently decided to run the canyon with jets and the sonic booms destroyed many of them. Ruined the ruins so to speak. But we saw what we could and they were fantastic. We could get quite close to some of them.
We have modified our trip somewhat and find ourselves now in Cortez, Colorado. The drive here was full of wildflowers and we skidded to a stop at Four Corners where Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico really DO NOT MEET....but it is where the National Monument happens to be. God Bless our National Parks System. "Four Corners National Monument: Not really in the four corners."
