Canyon del Muerto

Canyon del Muerto is the northern branch of the Canyon de Chelly system, accessed by the 17-kilometre North Rim Drive from the visitor centre. It is less visited than the main canyon but equally dramatic, with cliff dwellings and rock art sites visible from the rim overlooks. Antelope House Overlook is the highlight — a large Ancestral Puebloan ruin clearly visible on the canyon floor, with a striking painted deer image on the adjacent cliff.

Massacre Cave Overlook further along the drive marks the site of the 1805 Spanish attack on Navajo sheltering in a high alcove. The cave itself is visible from the overlook — look for the dark recess high in the canyon wall. The contrast between the beauty of the landscape and the violence of its history is part of what makes Canyon de Chelly such a complex and affecting place.

things to do sight landscape
A story
Canyon del Muerto — Canyon of the Dead — gets its name from the bones of Ancestral Puebloans found here in the 19th century. But it also witnessed the Massacre Cave incident of 1805, when Spanish forces under Lieutenant Antonio Narbona trapped a group of Navajo in a high alcove and killed more than 100 people, most of them women, children, and elderly. The site of the massacre is visible from the north rim drive.