After our stop at Pipe Spring we wanted to stay at another of our beautiful National Monuments so we headed for Navajo National Monument near Kayenta, AZ. We immediately went to the Sunset View campground to make sure we got a first come first serve campsite. We were in luck and nabbed spot #1 next to a cute Scamp from Vermont. We settled in and decided to take our first of 3 hikes. We started with the Sandal Trail a 1.3 mile round trip to the Betatakin Overlook.
Glad we remembered the binoculars so we could see the ruins better. The ruins are across the canyon so it is a little hard to see with the naked eye. It was a nice walk for our first hike. As we walked back to the campsite we decided to stop at the visitor’s center.
The visitor’s center had some nice displays and a small gift shop. We found out that Ranger’s gave guided tours of the ruins close up but it was several days away so we’ll leave that for our next visit. We had a nice night at the campground and the next morning we set off for another hike on the Canyon View Trail a .8 mile round trip which leads us along the canyon rim and ends at a road that leads to another campground.
We walked the campground and found it to be more secluded and had space between sites so as we walked back to the rig and decided to move to the Canyon View Campground.
We spent the rest of the day there enjoying the view and good data and WiFi connectivity. We met several nice campers as we took an evening walk around the campground.
Another nice and peaceful night under the stars. The next morning my husband found bear tracks through our campsite and not a hint of it overnight but he told me that he dreamt there was a bear in our site.
Today our last day we packed up and parked at the visitor’s center to take our last hike on the Aspen Trail a .8 mile round trip to the bottom of the canyon floor a 300 foot descent.
All 3 hikes are worth the effort. We absolutely enjoyed our stay at the Navajo National Monument.
Scouting Destinations 