Navajo Nation Popular Tourist Sites Opening

Above, the Left Mitten at Monument Valley. Goulding's Lodge is open but
the Monument Valley Tribal Park remains closed. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Popular tourist sites on the Navajo Nation are going to be reopened on Monday.

According to the Washington Post:

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Popular tourist destinations on the Navajo Nation, including Canyon de Chelly, can welcome back tourists Monday under the tribe’s reopening plan. 

Much of the Navajo Nation has been closed since March as the coronavirus swept through the reservation that extends into New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. The tribe released a plan this week that allows hair salons and barber shops to open by appointment only, businesses to operate at 25% of maximum capacity, and the reopening of marinas and parks with safeguards. 

Overlooks and restrooms at Canyon de Chelly National Monument will be accessible to tourists. But visitor centers will be closed there and at Hubbell Trading Post National Monument and Navajo National Monument. Ranger-led hikes also won’t be available. All three sites are managed at least partly by the National Park Service. 

Goulding’s Lodge near Monument Valley also was getting ready for tourists. It has for months mainly hosted people traveling through the reservation who weren’t able to visit the tribal park known for towering sandstone buttes, marketing manager Monica Lafont said.

“We have never really shut down. We just jumped into the mindset of 100% precaution, and our policy and procedures are enforced,” she said.

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