Went on a nice long hike and there was nearly nobody else in the trail, just how I like it! Worth a…read morevisit to this hidden gem!

Amazing landscape of black lava flows. Make sure to wear hiking boots or good secure shoes if…read morewalking in the Malapais. Check out the Sandstone Bluffs nearby as well, with views overlooking the lava flow.

I've visited all 50 states. This is one of the nicest National Monument visitor centers anywhere…read more Big, clean, well organized, lots of photos, maps and exhibits. The large parking lot has many RV parking spaces. Very nice!

Surprisingly lovely and new looking visitors center! Perfect for kids and not far from the town of…read moreGrants

I visited here a few times in high school when I did volunteer trips to the reservation. We would…read morevisit Canyon de Chelly on our free day after a long week of work. Canyon de Chelly National Monument is a huge canyon park on tribal lands that was habited by several Native American peoples many years ago. There are many areas that you can explore that have overlooks, hiking trails and remains of ancient Pueblo villages. The biggest attractions are the 800-feet tall Spider Rock spire and the White House ruin. Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de-SHAY) is located near Chinle in Northeastern Arizona. Even though it is a National Monument, the Navajo Nation entirely owns it. Around forty Navajo families live in the park. Other than the White House Trail, access to the canyon floor is restricted unless you book a tour guide. There are roads on both the North and South Rim where you can see ancient ruins and geologic structures. Canyon De Chelly has a visitor center with park rangers on hand and a gift shop. I was here recently and did the South Rim Drive. You can see ruins from the overlooks on South Rim Drive if you have binoculars. They are a little hard to see without them. This drive is the more popular side of the canyon because you can see Spider Rock and the White House ruin while on this road. On this drive are the Tunnel, Tsegi, Junction, White House, Sliding House, Face Rock and Spider Rock overlooks. Each overlook offers a unique perspective of the canyon floor and Navajo farmlands. We were able to do the White House Trail while here. It is the only trail that allows you to visit the bottom of the canyon without a guide. The hike is 2.5-miles round trip and descends nearly 600 feet to the canyon floor and back up. There are a few spots that can be a little slippery when raining. The end of the trail allows you to get up close to the White House ruin. This famous 1,000-year-old cliff dwelling was built by Ancestral Puebloans around 1060 AD. The White House has around 80 rooms and is named for the white plaster still visible on the walls. The hike itself isn't bad and worth it if you have some time. We had a nice time here at Canyon de Chelly. It brought back many memories of when I came here as a teenager. There are vendors at some of the overlooks that sell jewelry and other items. I wish we had more time to do the North Rim Drive to see the Massacre Cave Overlook. A sad event occurred here in 1805 when over a hundred Navajo people were murdered by the Spanish military while hiding in a cave.

I unfortunately didn't have time to go on a guided tour of Canyon de Chelly (it's located in the…read moreNavajo Nation, so you need to have a licensed tour guide to enter the majority of the Canyon), but I visited the welcome center, both the north and south rim drives, and hiked the White House Trail. The welcome center is staffed with NPS rangers and volunteers. There's a small gift shop and museum area with exhibits. There's also a hogan outside and you can ask the ranger to give a hogan talk and even enter it. The rim drives are gorgeous, although dusk and dawn really bring out the colors. The canyon rims are quite sheer which is different from a lot of other canyons. Pueblos can be seen from several lookouts, so bring binoculars. There tends to be people selling artwork and jewelry at the lookouts, so if you're interested, bring cash. The White House Trail is the only publicly accessible trail without a guide. It starts at the lookout, and you can see the structure from the parking lot, or decide to hike down to get a closer look (it's fenced off with a chain link fence to avoid people not respecting it). The hike is 2.5 miles round trip with little shade (although does have two cool tunnels), so bring water.

On November 25, 2025, the Painted Desert Visitor Center was closed for renovations…read more Coincidently, this is the same visitor center for the Petrified Forest National Park. I did not see signage for its anticipated re-opening. The woman at the gate who took my national park pass was not at all chatty. Not welcoming. She also did not indicate that this center was closed. I still got out to walk around and check it all out. Then I decided I should use the restroom before my haul to Albuquerque. Denied! The restroom in the nearby dining hall was closed for cleaning. Lol. It would have been nice to have gotten my passport stamps and learn a thing or two, but maybe next time if there is one...

Didn't get to stay long at the Visitors Center as we took too long to do the Painted…read moreDesert/Petrified Forest drive. Had 15 minutes before they closed. I got my passport stamp, and we were able to quickly purchase postcards and a DVD that was on sale. Even though it was close to closing time there were plenty of people still in the center, but the staff didn't seem to mind they were still smiling. I do regret not being able to spend the time to look at the exhibits in the center, but next time I'll try not to dawdle on the drive through the parks.

This place is great, especially during the week. Small quiet campground with 9 spaces, sweet…read morevisitor center with very friendly staff. Also, this is the cleanest park i have ever been to!!

Wonderful park with a 2 mile scenic scenic loop trail taking you by inscriptions in the rock dating…read moreback to the 1800's.

What a cool park!…read more We have a lifetime parks pass, so it's been great to be able to explore when we can. We spent about 1/2 day here - drove to many of the overlooks for some very cool views. Followed someone recommendation to hike the Blue Mesa and truly felt like we were walking on the moon. Very cool colors and petrified logs lying around. It's about a mile; so quite a short hike but you are 'up close and personal' with nature. Take the time to walk thru the museum at the Inn (there's also clean restrooms here and an ice cream shop). They've done a great job preserving the original furniture and such. The parking lots at many of the stops had several spots for RV's and could accommodate towing as well. Clean restrooms thru out the park too A tip would be to hike in the morning as the afternoons can get pretty toasty and windy

I am a big fan of national parks and am also a big fan of keeping them fully budgeted and staffed…read more If you have ever been to a national park, you know that they get a ton of visitors from other countries. These foreign folks love our national parks for good reason. Americans should also appreciate them. Now, this is probably not one of the "must do" national parks. It is not a Yosemite or a Yellowstone. There is no camping here and much of the park is entirely experienced by driving around in your car. There are a few hiking spots, some better than others. There are two entrances and there is only one road between them. It is impossible to get lost, although there are a few turnoffs. You drive from one entrance to the other and then you are done. Apparently, some people drive through the park, never leave their car, and spend about an hour in total here. It seems crazy to me to visit a national park in one hour and I do not recommend it. Do one or more of the hikes. Get out and experience a few of the overlooks. The Blue Mesa portion of the park is incredible. That was probably the highlight of the park for me. The color of the hills is just surreal. It is like you landed on Mars. You will, of course, see petrified (or "fossilized") wood here. It is multi-colored beautiful stuff. The visitor center on the north end is much better than the one at the south end. There is a cafe at the north visitor center, better souvenirs, and also the Painted Desert Inn where you can experience a bit of history from about a 100 years ago. Spend some time here whether you are just entering the park or leaving it. I would plan on spending about three or four hours here, especially if you do at least one good hike and stop at most of the overlooks. If you did all the hikes and all the overlooks and bring a lunch (there are no picnic or lunch areas, by the way), you could probably spend the entire day here. Half a day, including one long hike, was fine for us and I feel like we saw all of the highlights. I hate to give any area of land less than 5 stars through no fault of its own but this is not one of the more spectacular national parks in the country. But if you are in the area, it is worth a visit.

My brother, dad and I had an amazing experience at Chaco Culture National Historic site. We felt…read morevery fortunate to be able to visit such a magical place. I wont go into details, but it is worth the trip to come see this place at-least once in your lifetime and feel the energy that is here. We came in through the south rim off the 57. It is about a good 20 mile drive on a rough dirt road. I would not recommend driving here in any low profile vehicles or when it is raining because you will get stuck in the mud. Make sure your tires are good. Some patches are very rough and you will literally need to drive around 15mph. Once you reach near the visitor center there is paved road again. The loop is all paved and individual parking sites with restrooms are located in every site and will lead you on the trails. The hikes are moderate, but look out for snakes. The visiting section has a gift shop, really nice restrooms and they will provide all the info you may need. Entrance fee was only $25.

Just a heads up came here in January. I did not expect it would be snow covered fields and roads…read more The road leading up to this place no matter where you're coming from Highway 40 or Highway 25, eventually turns into a dirt road. Because it was frozen with snow on top our drive was pretty slow - 35 mph. I cannot imagine if it was a rainy day, all that mud. Don't come here if you don't have high suspension or at least an all-wheel-drive vehicle. We came here and had less than an hour left. The Ranger said we can drive the loop and see as many buildings as we can but we weren't able to see the large Pueblo. Still, it was worth it. Pictures turned out amazing. I did the junior ranger program booklet as fast as I could and I have to say it's one of the harder ones I've encountered if you were to finish the whole entire thing. I would come back here again, except when there's no snow that way you get to see way more of the architecture.

This was a terrible stop today. There isn't any open washrooms and was nobody to find any help…read morewith. We didn't even find a place to pay for our stay. There is no camp hosts or rangers and this was at 230 in the afternoon. The drive in is full off old run down buildings and cars

The setting is beautiful- BUT the showers and bathhouse were locked and closed. The only toilets…read moreavailable were 2 really dirty pit toilets with no toilet paper. There were water spigots but the water that came out was yellow. Almost every site had a red reserved sign but the campground was empty. Will not stay again.

Located in the northern part of Petrified Forest National Park, the Painted Dessert Inn has a lot…read moreto offer. This museum has displays and artifacts that highlight the building's history including a display on Route 66. It is also one of the few stops on the park that has bathrooms. In addition to the beauty of the building, there are wonderful views of the painted desert which reminds me of a small version of the cliffs in the Grand Canyon. The day we visited it was very windy and later in the day it was a little hazy due to the sand blowing. We were lucky that we visited in the morning to enjoy the beautiful views.

Located in Petrified Forest National Park, this building is made of petrified wood and other native…read morestone. It blends harmoniously in with the surrounding badlands. There's a gift shop, small visitor center, exhibits about the Inn, a small ice cream parlor, and bathrooms here. One room serves as an NPS ranger station, since the Painted Desert Visitor center in the Painted Desert Community Complex is currently closed for renovation. It's kind of small, but it's ok since you're probably more involved in taking in the breathtaking desert views. I'm glad that the NPS is preserving this building, even though it's built on unstable soil, so they have to do a lot of maintenance and upkeep so it doesn't collapse. Even if you don't appreciate the historical value, it's still a cool building to look at and walk through.