Canyon de Chelly National Monument — Attraction in Chinle Agency

So the park is beautiful, especially Spider Rock and the old ruins so I’d rate that a 5. Personal safety is sketch. I stopped at the first outlook (Tunnel) on the South Rim and saw three cars parked so figured it was safe to get out and look. Two late teen boys were skateboarding in the parking lot, but I didn’t think too much of it and minded my own business. I happened to look back and noticed one of the boys tapping on an older gentleman’s window, laughing and saying ugh hello, but the elder ignored him and didn’t roll down the window. It’s like he knew they were trouble. So I decided to leave, and as I walked back to my vehicle, one of the boys skated to the back side of the car and may have been looking in it or waiting for me. Awkwardly bc he was five feet away from me I said hello, mostly to let him know it was my vehicle and he stared me in the face with a weird look (he had a huge shiner), mumbled something, he may have been drinking, and literally started coming towards me at my car door. There was no reason for this because there was nobody around or no other cars around us. I yelled NO and ripped my door open, jumped in and locked the door. He stood outside of the door looking down at me and then back across the pkg lot at his friend for a few seconds like he wasn’t sure what his next move was. I pulled out and got the hell out of there, but think he was going to do something to me and at best was in my personal space intimidating me for absolutely no reason. It scared the crap out of me. I called the visitor center and they said I could drive back to the vc and write a report if I wanted. It honestly didn’t seem to matter to the gentleman I spoke with. I asked if it was a regular occurrence and he responded with, not too often, but sometimes closer in to the native residents. Needless to say, be very careful if you are alone. As a female, I probably shouldn’t have went on the reservation alone. I’m sure there are plenty of lovely people who live around there, but those boys were not...

One of my most favorite places!! Stumbled across the canyon about 35 years ago in a AAA tour book. We drove out there off the beating path and came to the canyon. We didn't see much, walked a little further and found a path down. We went down the path, and walked, and walked and wondered what we would find We didn't know we could actually get to the bottom! When we did we looked at each other in awww! It was beautiful, the river at the bottom, although just a creek running at that time and in the far distance, CLIFF DWELLINGS! What a find! We couldn't wait to get to them, to see them up close and in person!!! We walked across the floor of the canyon, it was breath taking looking up at the walls, wondering who lived down here, who made these houses in the cliffs, how long ago, how many people lived here, OH so many questions!!! We were the only ones here, we saw nobody else and wondered if we were even supposed to be here! But we are here and my camera started clicking. My camera had a good zoom and could really see the drawings and the dwellings clear and up close. We headed back since the sun was starting to set, didn't want to be down there in the dark! We climbed back up, it was a good climb for us and just in time, the sun was just about gone when we got to the top. We jumped in the car and off we went feeling like WE DISCOVERED A TREASURE!! Little did we know there was a building filled with all our answers just a quarter mile or closer down the road the other direction!! We came back a few years later and did it again but that time we saw the building and got all our questions answered!!!! We traveled all over the USA and Canyon de Chelly will always be one of my most favorite places and it is a National Treasure!! Thank you for a wonderful memory that will always be close...

Hello. Planning a trip to the NM and 4 corners region for several weeks in mid October of 2025. Had planned on spending several hours on the one day we will have either seeing part of one or both rims (on this particular trip wishing to concentrate most of our time towards viewing the most stunning geological sites of the canyon). However, we did come across some postings and additional info from persons who felt threatened or unsafe (personally or for their vehicle) while viewing several of the rim overlooks.

Don't want to get into any political discussions on the topic. Basically, if my wife and I visit several of the most prominent overlooks on one or both of the rims today, judging from persons recent experiences in the NM, should we be any more concerned or cautious about our safety than generally elsewhere. We realize anything can happen to anyone at any given time in any given location. With all due respect, that is not my question.

The 3 or 4 hour guided tours sound interesting, but I don't believe they can reach sites such as to view Spider Rock in such few round-trip hours. My back won't take any more time on a bumpy jeep ride. Hopefully no one has any recent signifciant negative safety issues to report.

Thanks very much for your time...