canyon de chelly national monument, navajo fortress
The North Rim Drive offers four viewpoints of Canyon del Muerto.
After a stop at the Visitor Center, we drove the North Rim Drive to the last overlook, Massacre Cave Overlook. We visited the other overlooks as we drove back towards the visitor center.
Visible from Antelope House Overlook, Navajo Fortress is giant sandstone rock used by the Navajo as a refuge from attackers and as a lookout for settlements farther back in the canyon. The Navajo used a system of wooden ladders to climb to the top of the rock, which is separated form the canyon wall behind it. Once the ladders were removed, the Navajo at the top of the rock were secure from attackers.