The town of Chinle on the eastern fringes of the Painted Desert provides the gateway to the stunning and historic Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The National Monument spans an area of 131 square miles and incorporates the three main canyons, these canyons are de Chelly, del Muerto and Monument. The canyons were carved out by streams of water coming from the Chuska Mountains just to the east. The Rio de Chelly starts near the Chuska Mountains near the Arizona-New Mexico border and snakes west before flowing into the Chinle wash, at times the water flow is dwarfed by 1000 feet high vertical sandstone canyon walls which are about 200 million years old.






