Junction Ruins to Standing Cow-Canyon de Chelly

Junction Ruins to Standing Cow Ruins is the lower and middle part of the Canyon del Muerto arm of the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeast Arizona. To visit the inner canyon areas visitors must be accompanied by a Navajo Guide or a Park Ranger.

I went on a private half day jeep tour to just the del Muerto arm, from the canyon mouth to Mummy Cave Ruins. The standard half day tours visit as far as Standing Cow and then visit the Canyon de Chelly arm as far as White House ruins.

The Junction Ruins are located at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. They are visible from the Junction overlook on the south rim drive. On the tour I took, Junction Ruins was the fourth stop and it took about 0:20 minutes of sandy driving to get here. The sites near the canyon mouth can be hiked to on the Tunnel Trail hike. In 2011, this free hike is being offered on Friday mornings.
 

After Junction Ruins there is a succession of small sites and it is hard to keep them straight. The sites are called Echo Ruins, Small Cave, Ceremonial Cave, and Round Corners. Most of the sites in the Canyon de Chelly area are in alcoves above the canyon floor and are viewed from a distance.
 

At one time, there was a north rim overlook of Ledge Ruins, but this overlook has been closed for a long time. In addition to the obvious small group of structures, there are two small storage structures in an alcove to the left. In the vicinity of Ledge Ruins there is another site high on the cliffs called Bridge Ruins.

Antelope House is the largest of the sites in Canyon del Muerto except for Mummy Cave. It appears to be the only one with structures that sit on the canyon floor. The interpretive sign at the Antelope Overlook says that building here began in 700 AD and continued on and off for 600 years. Most of what we see was constructed after 1050 AD. There is also an interpretive sign at the site that explains how these structures were built.

The park brochure says that Antelope House has an unusual circular plaza. It’s hard to see the circular plaza at the site but it is visible from the overlook to the right of the tall tower.

My guide mentioned that Antelope House might have been a trading center as pottery of many different styles was found there.

The Antelope House name comes from the series of pictographs along the left side of the site. The drawings are attributed to a Navajo who lived here in the early 1800s.
 

Standing Cow Ruins is a small site but has the interesting large cow pictograph. I think this was done by the same artist who we see at Antelope House. To the right of the cow, it looks like there are some vague white flute player images.

Just before the Standing Cow is the Narbona Panel, depicting the 1805 Spanish massacre that gives Canyon del Muerto its name. I didn’t get close enough to it to get a good picture, but it is a detailed and interesting panel. The normal half day group tour usually turns around at Standing Cow Ruin and returns to the canyon junction, then up Canyon de Chelly. From Standing Cow it is about 0:40 minutes of travel to the large Mummy Cave Ruins.

Mummy Cave Ruins in Canyon de Chelly

Mummy Cave Ruins is one of the largest sites in the Canyon de Chelly in northeast Arizona. It is visible from an overlook along the north rim road. It can also be viewed on a guided tour.

The typical all day group tour visits Mummy Cave. I visited on a half day private jeep tour where we only visited the Canyon del Muerto arm. The private tours cost more but there is more flexibility and they move faster. It took my tour 2:00 hours to arrive here including making stops at the many sites along the way. Even when you view from the canyon floor, the fencing forces a long distance view.
 

The interpretive sign at the site says that habitation began here in 300 AD, making it one of the oldest Ancestral Pueblo sites in the canyon. The Navajo name for Mummy Cave is House Under the Rock. This upper area of the Canyon de Chelly area doesn't have the broad sandy canyon floor as the lower area.

There is a meandering creek in this area and the road is easier driving, though still a rough dirt road. There aren't as many ruins or rock art sites in this upper canyon area as the lower area.
 

The differences in styles between the side alcove sites and the center structure are easy to see even from a distance. The rooms are smaller and the stone work is rougher.
 

The center section is thought to have been built around 1280 AD by people who moved here from the Mesa Verde area as the structures resemble the Mesa Verde style. The Mesa Verde site that this reminds me of most is the Square Tower House on the Mesa Top Loop.

The location where mummies were found is to the right of the main structures and there are two pictographs on the canyon walls in that area. My total tour of the Canyon del Muerto arm of Canyon de Chelly took 3:20 hours.



  

Inner Canyon Tour at Canyon de Chelly

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is entirely inside the Navajo Indian Reservation in NE Arizona. Besides being a spectacular natural feature with 700 foot sheer sandstone walls, it has two cultural overlays.

It is the traditional center of Navajo territory since their arrival in the area 500 years ago, and it has ruins of the collapsed Anasazi pueblo culture that moved out 700 years ago.


The rim drives are open at all times but the inner canyon is restricted. A good way to see visit the rest of the canyon bottom is to take one of the 4 wheel drive tours. The tour I took started at the Thunderbird Lodge and entered at the canyon mouth. The tour lasted nearly four hours and started up the north arm, called Canyon del Muerto continueing to just past the Antelope House ruin.

There were about 20 on the tour in a big 4 x 4 truck outfitted with padded seats. The driver was a Navajo whose family had a camp in north arm and who had been giving tours for 27 years.

The Antelope House Ruin is visible from above at one of the overlooks along the north rim. Navajo Fortress is visible from the same area.

Along the way. besides the ruins and the lush scenery at the canyon bottom, we passed the summer activities of Navajo families, some farming and herding, and children playing in the water.

The massive cliffs that form the walls of the canyon are De Chelly Sandstone. The De Chelly Sandstone was deposited as dunes in an arid environment about 250 to 230 million years ago. The caprock along the canyon is known as the Shinarump Conglomerate, a layer of stream deposited sand and gravel.

We turned around and went back down Canyon Del Muerto and up the Canyon de Chelly arm to the White House ruins. This ruin can be visited by trail also.

There is a lot of rock art along the way in lower parts of the Canyon de Chelly. The tours may go past these sites quickly, or the views may just be from the vehicle. Near the Canyon mouth is Kokopelli Cave. On the left side of the cave are pictographs of handprints and a reclining flute player.

There is also a site near the canyon mouth called Newspaper Rock and Triangle Man just across from it. Newspaper Rock has many images but they are hard to see without binoculars. Whether the tour stops at these sites might depend on the guide.

A short distance before the Antelope House is a site called Black Bull Cave. Here there are some broad shouldered painted figures and hand prints. The yellow image is a flute player but is hard to see.

(I later took a tour in a jeep and saw some more of the details in this area, particularly the small ruins sites. Use the label "Canyon de Chelly Tours".)