For Immediate Release
THUNDERBIRD LODGE IN ARIZONA’S CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT FEATURES AVAILABILITY DURING BUSY SUMMER MONTHS
CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT, Ariz., July 8, 2010 – For summertime vacationers who are just now getting around to actually deciding where they want visit, there are still lodging options in some parks and monuments managed by the National Park Service.
The Thunderbird Lodge in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, located in northeast Arizona on the Navajo Nation, is a destination that often has availability even during the most popular travel season.
“While July and August, for example, are the peak times for traditional off-school vacation destinations, it is not our busiest time of year,” said Rosanda Bahe, motel supervisor at Thunderbird Lodge. “We are a little bit off the beaten path, but this destination is so full of cultural significance with a fascinating history that it is definitely worth seeking out. And don’t tell the kids that they will learn something in the process.”
Located on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona, Canyon de Chelly is jointly operated by the Navajo Nation and the National Park Service. The monument is home to about 80 Navajo families who continue to live and farm in the canyon. With the exception of only one short hiking trail, visitors to the monument are permitted into the canyon only in the company of an authorized Navajo guide.
Thunderbird Lodge is the only lodging facility in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Rooms are equipped with comfortable beds, full bathrooms and satellite television. The lodge sits on the site of a trading post built in 1896, and its cafeteria-style restaurant is located in the trading post’s original building. The Thunderbird Lodge gift shop and rug room offer some of the region’s finest examples of Native American jewelry, crafts and Navajo rugs as well as other mementos.
Thunderbird Lodge also offers authorized half- and full-day group tours in Canyon de Chelly in six-wheel drive touring vehicles operated by experienced and knowledgeable Navajo guides who explain about the canyon, one of the most sacred as well as historically and culturally significant places in the Navajo Nation. Guests see prime examples of Anasazi ruins, pictographs, petroglyphs and the sites of confrontations between the Navajo and the Spanish, Mexican and American governments.
The half-day tours take visitors into the lower halves of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto, the two canyons which comprise Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The full-day tour travels on a 60-mile route through Canyon del Muerto to Mummy Cave and Canyon de Chelly to Spider Rock. The tours stop frequently so guides can provide details of the canyon’s remarkable history and point out some of the prehistoric dwelling sites – including cliff dwellings precariously situated on the rock walls – as well as petroglyphs and pictographs etched and painted onto rocks throughout the park.
Summer rates per night in a “de Chelly” room are $110 for a single, $114 for a double, $118 for a triple and $122 for a quad. Rates in an “Adobe” room $116 for a single, $120 for a double, $124 for a triple and $128 for a quad. Suites are also available starting at $163. Rates do not include taxes.
Rates for half-day tours are $49 for adults and $38 for children 12 and under. Rates for all-day tours are $79 and include lunch.
Thunderbird Lodge is open year-round. For reservations, call 1-800-679-2473.
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Thunderbird Lodge
