Depart for northern Arizona. Tour Montezuma’s Castle National Monument before arriving in Flagstaff for lunch on your own and a tour the Museum of Northern Arizona. Continue to Tuba City and check into Moenkopi Legacy Inn N Suites. Dinner and a Hopi program are included this evening. (B, D)
Highlights today include Old Oraibi and a walking tour of Walpi. Walpi is situated on top of First Mesa nearly 300 feet above the surrounding land. This is a living village where the homes are passed down through matrilineal clan lineage. Just as it has been over the centuries, there is no electricity or running water in the old village of Walpi. Witness life at it has been lived over the centuries. This full day tour gives guests the opportunity to meet Kachina doll carvers, basket weavers and potters in their villages. You will learn about Hopi agriculture and see the dry farming that produces crops of beans, squash and corn that have been the staples of Hopi life for centuries. Return to Moenkopi for the evening. (B)
Visit the Interactive Navajo Museum this morning before traveling to Page and tour Antelope Canyon, a small but exquisitely beautiful slot canyon geological formation. Also visit Glen Canyon Dam and view Lake Powell before traveling to Kayenta for the evening. Check into Kayenta Monument Valley Inn. (B)
Tour the fabulous and beautiful Monument Valley and discover why it is considered one of the centerpieces of beauty on Navajo Land. Beautiful red sandstones push skyward from the vast expanse of desert floor, creating a striking set of formations that stand together against an umbrella of blue skies. Lunch is on your own in Kayenta before you depart for Canyon de Chelly. Take in the thrill and delights of the breathtaking Canyon de Chelly! Nowhere in Navajo land is the blend of past tradition and present culture more evident than at Canyon de Chelly National Monument. This monument is home to several periods of Indian culture dating from 350 A.D. to 1300 A.D. The 26-mile long canyon contains sheer cliffs ranging from 30 to more than 1,000 ft. providing a spectacular backdrop for hundreds of Anasazi Ruins, as well as modern Navajo homes and farms. Check into the Thunderbird Lodge. (B)
Visit Window Rock this morning. This park has many symbolic structures: a circular path outlining the four cardinal directions, 16 angled steel pillars with the name of war veterans, and a healing sanctuary that is used for reflection and solitude that features a fountain made of sandstone. Also visit the Navajo Nation Council Chambers – similar to our US Capitol Building. Lunch is included at St. Michael Indian School. Then depart for the Hubbell Trading Post and National Historic Site. Hubbell Trading Post is the oldest continuously operated trading post in the United States, a National Historic Site that features a bookstore, exhibits, rug weaving demonstrations and picnic tables. Then return to the Phoenix and check into the Holiday Inn Express. Dinner is included this evening. (B, L, D)