Antelope House Overlook

Antelope House Overlook is on a short spur off the North Rim Drive in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. It looks down into Canyon del Muerto at Antelope House, one of the biggest ruins in this narrow, twisting canyon. A 1973 Park Service history puts it about 5 miles above the point where Canyon del Muerto joins Canyon de Chelly. The village had 40 to 50 rooms. It was built on the stream bank against the base of a cliff that towers nearly 600 feet above it.

The name comes from paintings, not animals. Four antelopes, painted in tan and white at about half life size, appear high on the cliff nearby. The same history says Navajo families living in the canyon credit them to Dibe Yazhi ('Little Sheep'), a Navajo artist who lived here in the 1830s. Other white figures nearby are probably the work of the village's earlier inhabitants. Because it stands on the riverbank, Antelope House has eroded badly. Even so, some walls still rise two and three stories, and the outlines of dozens of unexcavated rooms and two kivas can be traced. A famous burial, known as the 'Burial of the Weaver', was found in a small alcove nearby. It was an elderly man wrapped in a feather blanket and cotton blankets, buried with a bow, pottery, baskets of food and more than 2 miles of cotton yarn.

The North Rim Drive is paved and free, and you don't need a guide or permit. It has three overlooks. The Park Service suggests about two hours for the drive and says the light is best in the morning. The Park Service also lists waterless restrooms at Antelope House Overlook. Restrooms on the rim may close in winter. Leashed pets are welcome at the overlooks.

From the rim, the ruin is distant. To stand at its base, you must join a tour with an authorized Navajo guide and buy a backcountry permit. Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation lists that NPS permit at $15 per person per tour and issues it at its office near the Cottonwood Campground entrance. The monument is Navajo Nation land, and roughly 40 families live within its boundary, so stay on paved roads, don't drive off-road and don't fly drones.

The North Rim Drive starts near the Welcome Center, about 3 miles east of US 191 in Chinle. It continues east as Route 64 toward Tsaile. The Park Service says that route is a good alternative way into the park, with three overlooks along it.