Canyon de Chelly National Monument covers 131 square miles in northeast Arizona near the Navajo community of Chinle. Cut from streams running in the Chuska mountains to the east, Canyon de Chelley, Canyon del Muerto and Monument Canyon encompass a canyon habitat on Navajo Tribal Trust Land. The National Park Service and the Navajo Nation work as partners to manage park resources and sustain the Navajo community situated along the base of sandstone walls and amid ancient Anasazi ruins.
Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelley
11 x 14 circa 1967 The distinctive sandstone spire, Spider Rock, rises 800 feet from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon. According to Navajo legend the Spider Woman lives on top where she keeps the bones of her victims — the children who have misbehaved.