My husband and I took a three-day trip through the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation. As I pointed out in this blog post, the Navajo Nation is considered a country unto itself, with its own laws, that sprawls into four states.

Our route took us from Mesa, where we were visiting my in-laws, up through the pine woods of the Mogollan Rim to Winslow. We entered Navajo Nation just outside of Holbrook, heading up to Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley. We finished by driving south through Flagstaff, stopping off at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona, and spending a night in Prescott.

Highlights

La Posada, Winslow. Back in the 1930s, Fred Harvey hired southwestern architect Mary Colter – also responsible for Bright Angel Lodge and Phantom Ranch at the Grand Canyon, creating the style known as “National Park Rustic” –  to design one of his “Harvey Houses” in Winslow, at the time an important stop on the Santa Fe railroad line. She went all out on La Posada, incorporating natural materials such as slate to build what looks like an old Spanish hacienda.

Unfortunately, although the hotel attracted its share of celebrities such as Howard Hughes and Clark Gable, Winslow never really took off as a city on par with Santa Fe. La Posada was closed to the public in 1957 and served for many decades as an office building for the Railroad. In the 1990s, plans were made to get rid of it, until Allan Affeldt and his wife bought it in 1997 and restored it. They are currently working on restoring a second wing (and they still live on the premises)

I found the hotel enchanting. Although the rooms weren’t huge, the beds were comfortable and clean (even though the toiletries consisted of a large bottle of Pert shampoo). We had fun roaming around the hotel, taking a look at the art that’s scattered around, wandering the gardens, and watching the trains go by. And it was one of those places where other guests were cool, probably because they cared as much about the history of the hotel as we did.

(If you are a light sleeper, get an interior room or one toward the front of the hotel. Trains still go by the hotel, and it can get noisy around 6 a.m.)

There’s not much else to Winslow besides the hotel, unfortunately. The first thing we saw when we drove into town was a state prison – not an auspicious beginning! We went to Standin’ on the Corner Park , made famous by the Jackson Browne-written Eagles song, and took pictures of the sign and statues. There were a few Route 66-style buildings that were intriguing. But if it weren’t for the hotel, I’m not sure we would have stopped.

Canyon de Chelly. From Winslow, we took I-40 east past Holbrook and drove up  into the Navajo Nation. While anyone can drive around the canyon’s rim, you need a Navajo guide to go inside. After reading on TripAdvisor about the different tour options, I decided to book a private tour with Adam Teller of Antelope House Tours.  I was told that the tours would be $140 for the two of us. When we met him at the visitor center, he told us that two more people would be joining the group, so it would be $45 per person.

I’m glad we picked Adam’s outfit for the tour. For one thing, it rained during our trip, and his Jeep seemed like the only one out there that had a hard roof. We saw tourists in other Jeeps and trucks who were soaking wet. Also, Adam is very involved in the day-to-day governance of Canyon de Chelly’s lands – so he was able to speak with authority about the current lives of Navajos living in and around the canyon.

The tour took us into the canyon, to the Anastasi remains at First Ruin, Junction Run, Ledge Ruin, Antelope House Ruin and White House ruin, among others. With showers on the way and the thunder booming through the canyon, the trip was quite spectacular. Adam was a good guide – informative with a wry sense of humor. We tried some Navajo frybread at Antelope House Ruin, where his sister set up a small shop (essentially fried dough with powdered sugar, it tastes a bit like funnel cake). We stopped often for photo ops of both the ruins and the waterfalls that had emerged during the rain.

Monument Valley. Originally, we didn’t think we had enough time for Monument Valley and were going to stay in Chinle. As our tour ended at 4 p.m. and Kayenta was only 90 minutes away, we decided to go for it. I’m glad we did. Despite less than stellar accomodations in Kayenta (see below), Monument Vally was as incredible as I remembered it (I had been before, but my husband had not).

We awoke early and were at the 17-mile road leading through Monument Valley by 7 a.m. It was a cloudy day, so the light on the buttes wasn’t as great as it could have been, but the formations are still impressive. We decided against taking a tour because 1. we were short on time. 2. the Monument Valley tours were more expensive than those at Canyon de Chelly and 3. we just didn’t think a guide here could top Adam!

We did take our rental car, a Pontiac Vibe, on the dirt road  - but that’s mainly because my husband is a very careful driver used to tough roads (he normally drives a Jeep). The roads had recently been graded and we made it through with no issues.

Sunset Crater Volcano. On the drive south from Kayenta, we stopped at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, mainly to stretch our legs. We had no idea how cool it was going to be until we got our of cars and started walking on the lava paths not far from the visitors center. Basically, Sunset Crater is a cone of ash from a volcano that erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100. The surrounding landscape is still recovering from the event, and you can see how stunted the trees and plants are. A surprising stop for us.

Prescott. This was where we stopped after a long day of driving from Kayenta. Prescott is a classic old Western town, filled with bars in a strip known as Whiskey Row. There’s also a lovely courthouse and some amazing scenery nearby.

I really enjoyed our hotel here, The Motor Lodge. As I wrote in this post, the owners Joseph and Raymond couldn’t have been friendlier. Plus we appreciated the vibe that they were trying to create in a Cowboy town. At one time, the place was a deteroriating roadside hotel. It’s now been spruced up Queer-Eye-for-the-Straight-Guy style with bright green paint, California king beds, retro-chic furniture, cheerful outdoor furniture and an actual carport for every room. Plus it only cost $69 a night. Loved it!

Driving. Honestly, the best thing about this roadtrip were the amazing views we saw along the way. We must have gone through just about every eco-system that the varied state of Arizona has to offer, from saguaros in the south to pine forests on the rim to the Painted Desert in the north.

For you Arizona Highway types out there, here’s the route we took:

Mesa-Winslow: Beeline Hwy (Highway 87) up to Payson, then continuing on through Pine, Strawberry and the Mogollan Rim. At about 7,000 ft. elevation, the landscape was rife with pine trees rising 10 stories high

Winslow-Chinle. I-40 east to Chambers, then north on Highway 191 into the Navajo Nation. At first the landscape is high desert, lots of rolling prairie and scrubby grasslands. Canyons started appearing as we got closer to Chinle.

Chinle-Kayenta. Highway 191 north to Highway 59, then Highway 160 west. Shortly outside Chinle, we started seeing buttes and red rock. Watch out for cows and sheep on the road.

Kayenta-Flagstaff. Highway 160 out of the Navajo Nation takes you through the edge of the Painted Desert. Outside of Flagstaff of Highway 89 south, the elevation rises again and you’re back in the pine forests.

Flagstaff-Prescott. The best drive of the trip was Alt Highway 89 south through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona. This road also took us up past Jerome through the Mingus Mountains, a steep and twisting road full of pines and fabulous views.

Food

The Turquoise Room, Winslow. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a fine dining restaurant in the middle of nowhere, but the restaurant at La Posada was as good as you’d expect from the fab hotel. First, we had some drinks and talked to other guests at the very cool bar, which featured a large curved bar made from copper and steel. As repeat guests, they told us Chef John Sharpe is dedicated to local Southwestern ingredients, some of which is raised on the hotel grounds, and others that come from the nearby Navajo lands

We started with the famous stuffed squash blossoms, which I had never had before. Delicious. My husband had the chile sampler. I had the deconstructed Native cassoulet, which featured an elk sausage, duck leg confit and a skewer of grilled free range Churro lamb – which was one of the best pieces of lamb I’ve ever had. If I ever go back, that’s what I’m ordering. All in all, an outstanding dining experience.

Casa Blanca Cafe, Winslow. If you can’t get good Mexican food in Arizona, you aren’t looking hard enough. As I wrote above, Winslow doesn’t appear to offer much, so we were pleasantly surprised with the outstanding Mexican food at this restaurant, which has been operated by the same family for nearly 40 years. The standout dish was the chicken stuffed sopaipillas – basically, chicken, beans and red sauce enclosed in a shell that was both crispy and puffy at the same time.

Juanita’s Taqueria, Cottonwood. A small dive in a small town on highway Alt 89, between Sedona and Jerome. We had eaten an outstanding breakfast here when we visited those cities 18 months ago, so when we saw Juanita’s face on the side of the building again, we had to stop. Great shrimp tacos.

Meh (no strong opinions one way or another)

The Hubbell Trading Post. My father-in-law told us that we had to stop at the Hubbell Trading Post, the country’s oldest continuing operating trading post. We made a quick detour to look around. It’s basically a general store, with a section in the back to buy Navajo jewelry, crafts and rugs. We didn’t buy anything, other than some unusual salsas to go with our chips. If you are very short on time, I’d skip it.

Lowlights

Monument Valley accomodations. Normally, I plan my lodging stops in advance. As we decided that we had time to get up to Monument Valley at the last minute, the better accomodations such as the new View hotel (which my colleague Jayne Clark wrote about in this article) and Gouldings Lodge were already booked. In fact, every hotel was booked except the Kayenta Holiday Inn.

I had been quoted a price of $159 over the phone. When I checked in, I heard the clerk give the person next to me a $109 rate. I asked about the difference. She told me that we were paying a higher price because we were non-smokers. “So we’re being penalized because we’re healthier?” my husband asked. She replied that non-smoking rooms cost more because there weren’t enough to keep up with the demand. We thought this was nuts, especially as smoking rooms generally cost more to clean (we did end up getting the cheaper rate, once she realized I was a Priority Club member). The room itself was pretty grim – think cinderblock walls and no natural light. It was like being a basement and especially depressing after our La Posada experience. But we sucked it up – it was worth it to be able to get an early start on Monument Valley the next day.

For next time

We decided against driving up to Antelope Canyon in Page, mainly because the light wasn’t that great on the day we were in the area. My husband does want to go back, though, so he can take photographs.

Our companions on the Canyon de Chelly tour also talked up “The Wave,” a famous rock formation in the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness. To get to the Wave, you must get a permit from the Bureau of Land Management – and there are only 20 given out each day, 10 in advance and 10 by lottery. So that’s one that will require advance planning.

Want to read more about our desert trips? Read my Death Valley trip report.

Like the photos? Visit my husband’s photography website.

Got an Arizona recommendation? (We go every year). Tell me here.