Navajo & Hopi Nations: 

First Nations tourism in the Southwest

Totally fake, inappropriate "appropriate architecture" in Tuba City / Moenkopi.

Hey, I'm a retired city planner so I've seen inappropriate "appropriate architecture" before.

From the 50 State Visitors Guide : Arizona

A.R.S. 2025  §§ 13-3821 through 13-3829, 13-3727

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Visitors must register if staying for more than 72 hours excluding weekends & holidays. (per statute) §13-3821(A). SOR office refuses to answer whether return visits allowed per month or year. “That’s determined by local sheriff.”

NOTE: AZ SOR office defers on many questions to local county sheriffs for interpretation. Updated Aug 2024.

Initial reg. required “within seventy-two hours, excluding weekends and legal holidays, after entering and remaining for at least seventy-two hours in any county of this state.” §13-3821. Not sure what that means; afraid to ask. Registrants working in state must report in any county where present for 14 consecutive days or an aggregate of 30 days/yr.  Address change etc. required w/in 72 hours (business days only).  §13-3822.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction:  1,000 ft. restriction applies to Level 3 offenders. §13-3727. Local governments are pre-empted from adopting more restrictive requirements. §13-3727.

Residence defined as “The person's dwelling place, whether permanent or temporary.” § 13-3822 E 3 (a)

Local governments are pre-empted from adopting more restrictive requirements.  §13-3727.

SOR office “believes” that visiting registrants will not be removed from state’s registry after departure.

Duration & updates:

10 years to life. Transients report every 90 days.  All others annually.

From the 50 State Visitors Guide : New Mexico

N.M. Stat. Ann. 2025  §§29-11A-1 through 29-11A-10

N.M.A.C. §1.18.790.157

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

5 business days for initial registration & updates. §29-11A-4.

State law requires “sex offenders” to register, which includes one who: (1) establishes a residence [not defined] in NM; (2) “stays in multiple locations in NM,” or (3) is enrolled in a NM school, or (4) is employed in NM for more than 14 days or an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year. §29-11A-3.

Visitors:  NM State Police say: “If convicted prior to July 1, 2013 you will need to register if in the state of New Mexico for longer than ten (10) days. You will need to register within five (5) days if convicted after July 1, 2013.” §29-11A-4 says business days.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

State pre-emption: Cities, counties & other political subdivisions are prohibited from adopting any ordinance, rule, regulation, resolution or statute on sex offender registration and notification and from imposing any other restrictions on sex offenders that are not included in the state SOR Act. §29-11A-9.

Duration & updates:

10 years to life. Updates are every 6 mo. or every 90 days depending on offense. §29-11A-4.

From the 50 State Visitors Guide : Utah

Utah Code Ann.  2025

§§77-41-101 through 77-41-112; Utah. Code Ann. §§77-27-21.7 thru 77-27-21.9; U.A.C. §§R251-110-1 thru  R251-110-5

§§ 53-29-101 thru 53-29-405. (Utah reorganized its whole code in 2025)

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

“Sex Offender” is defined to include any out-of-state SO who is in Utah for more than 10 days in any 12 month period. § 53-29-202.

Visitors must register “within 10 days of entering the state, regardless of the offender’s length of stay.”  § 53-29-304.

Updates required within 3 business days. §77-41-105.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Presence restriction: May not be on premises of a day care, preschool or school; public, HOA or condo swimming pool; public, HOA or condo park or playground.  Exceptions for access to schools when carrying out “necessary parental responsibilities” and day care center or preschool when in building for other purposes. § 53-29-306

Residence restriction: w/in 1,000 ft. of victim, with exceptions. § 53-29-306.

“Sex Offender in Presence of Child Law:”  Registrants w/ convictions involving minors under 14 years old cannot invite the minor to accompany him or her absent parental consent, with exceptions.  .  § 53-29-307. Updated Aug. 2026.

Because “Sex Offender” is defined to include only out-of-state SO’s in Utah for more than 10 days in a 12 month period (see Registration Triggers & Deadlines at left), visitors not meeting this definition would, in theory, not be required to register & thus not subject to these restrictions during their visit. However, this theory remains untested.

Duration & updates:

Lifetime. Petition 10 years.  Updates every 6 mo. §77-41-105.

Navajo Taco at The Junction in Chinle

Most recent visit: October 2026

Native American nations can be fascinating places to visit, but make no mistake – you might tell yourself you are entering a sovereign nation when you cross the reservation boundary but you aren’t.  You’ll still be bound by the registry laws of whatever US state you’re in.  

Nor should you get any funny ideas if you are of native ancestry that you can somehow escape your registry status by moving to the reservation of whatever tribe you belong to.  You can’t.  As you must already realize, the oppression of the registry will follow you onto the reservation whether you’re a visitor or become a resident.  That’s why I have placed the registry laws of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah at the beginning of this blog entry, rather than any tribal registry laws.  There may be some local tribal laws, but the state laws are the ones to pay attention to.  As for Arizona, local governments (including native nations) are pre-empted from adopting their own restrictions.

I have been saying in other posts about native nations that they are not tourist attractions.  The Navajo Nation is the exception – they’re the biggest nation (the size of West Virginia), every American has heard of them, there’s a lot to see there, and they want your tourist dollars.

On this visit, the Navajo Nation was Days 2 & 3 of a trip through Arizona.  If you look at a map you’ll see that the best way to make the most of the Navajo Nation in two days is to enter at Tuba City and do the US 160 & 163 corridor, which I guarantee will take all of Navajo Nation Day 1. 

As soon as I left the must-see Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park I left Arizona (but not the Navajo Nation) and my AZ clock stopped – at about 53 hours.  I stayed overnight at an RV Park in Bluff, UT, thus adding two partial days to my annual Utah clock, for a total of seven days on this road trip.

Navajo Nation Day 2 I followed the US 191 corridor southbound, with emphasis on Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  That also took all day, but I was still leaving AZ at Window Rock by evening, which means only about nine hours total.

Do the Navajo & Hopi get along?  Maybe …

I am left with the impression that there may be some tension between the Navajo as the big tribe on the block, vs. the Hopi, Zuni, Ute, Apache and other tribes that inhabit the same region.  There is a poster for sale (which I bought and have right here) which purports to show Navajo Homelands (Dine’ Bike’yah) “to be used as a tool in the teaching of the Navajo language and culture.” 

This map includes New Mexico and southern Utah as far east as Santa Fe and Taos, which is ridiculous when you consider that these other tribes and several more have reservations throughout this area.  I don’t know anything about tribal history, but I do know human nature.  It must really piss off these other tribes to know that Navajo school children are being taught to see them as, essentially, subject peoples and interlopers.

Navajo (Hopi) National Monument:

A perfect example of what I’m talking about

Having passed through Tuba City and Moenkopi, the two opposing tribal towns along US 160, Navajo (Hopi) National Monument was my first big stop.  Despite the misnaming of this site, there’s nothing Navajo about it.  It’s entirely Hopi.  The nice young lady at the visitor center (who identified as Navajo) explained the difference:

Authentic pueblo & kiva = Hopi                         Fake hogan & sweatlodge = Navajo

Both photos taken at Navajo (Hopi) National Monument

Furthermore, the Hopi have always maintained, and DNA analysis now confirms, that these ancient pueblos and kivas really are Hopi, NOT Navajo.  The nice young lady said, “Oh yes, we recognize this as a Hopi site within the Navajo Nation.”  Then why did you park a fake hogan and sweatlodge behind the visitor center instead of something Hopi-ish?  And I don’t see any proposal to change the name of the National Monument or transfer it to Hopi control.  I guess that’s too much to ask, but it must really steam the Hopi.

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

This is the iconic main event for any visit to the Navajo Nation.  The good news is, there seems to be no argument over who it belongs to.  The bad news is that the scenic loop through Monument Valley, which is what you’re here to see, is a poorly maintained dirt road that’ll kill your suspension for the entire two hours.  The flip side is, the lack of improvements makes your tour seem all the more authentic.  See photos.

Upon leaving Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park I left Arizona but not the Navajo Nation, which extends into Utah as far as Lake Powell and the inappropriately named Montezuma Creek.  I stayed overnight at an RV park in the town of Bluff before re-entering AZ traveling south on US 191.

Canyon de Chelly (Ch’inili) National Monument

 

Ancient cliff dwellings                                                Farming the canyon floor

Though far less well known than Monument Valley, this national monument consists of three spectacular canyons that all come together near the tribal town of Chinle. The Navajo made sure nobody got kicked out when allowing this national monument to be establish on their lands, so as you drive around you get to experience native homes and ranches.  The canyon floors are also occupied by native people still farming and ranching the most fertile lands in the region (because yeah, “a river runs through it”) among the ancient cliff dwellings in the canyon walls.

Canyons converging                                          Spider Rock

I stopped for lunch in the tribal town of Chinle.  Behind the commercial strip aimed at tourists, it’s another dismal example of public housing and reservation poverty.  It’s also the home of tribal adult and youth prisons.  Perfect.  I found a local restaurant (The Junction) whose menu included native selections and seemed to have native patrons.  I liked the Navajo Taco this time – see photo.

Antelope Canyon

Years ago my then wife and I visited another of the Navajo Nation’s well known tourist attractions, Antelope Canyon, which is outside the town of Page, AZ.  It’s beautiful and the Navajo tour guide played a wooden flute that echoed all over the canyon walls.

If you only want to dip your toe into the Navajo Nation, you can stop in the town of Cameron on U.S. 89 just outside of the Grand Canyon entrance road.  There has been a lot of recent road improvements and tourist construction there – now they even have a roundabout at the intersection of SR 64.  It looks to me like the Navajos envision trapping you there so you won’t be tempted to go deeper into their territory … like I did.

Public Lands within Navajo & Hopi influence:

Chaco Culture National Historic Park

Chaco Canyon National Historic Park is located east of the Navajo Nation boundary in New Mexico, but well within their sphere of influence.  In 2023 I entered from the north from U.S. 550. Peering down the dirt County Road 7900 I thought, this is an official county road leading to a national park – surely it’s well maintained, right?  And it was – until it wasn’t!!  After that you and your car’s suspension are on your own!  This just illustrates how the Navajo Nation has no particular interest in whether you can get to Chaco Canyon or not. 

Ancient communal dwelling a Chaco Canyon

But just when I was sure my car was a goner I passed the park entry monument and Tadahhh !! everything inside the park is nicely paved.  Later on, leaving by the south (CR 14) was also dirt, longer but a much easier ride – although it had its moments.  I was told that these road conditions can vary widely from year to year and season to season.  Just be ready for anything.

Ancient Kiva at Chaco Culture National Historic Park

However, the park itself is truly spectacular.  The canyon is beautiful, and the ancient pueblos and kivas are among the best preserved you’ll see anywhere.  Even I who have no military experience could see that the three main pueblos are strategically located so that, between them, the entire canyon could be well defended and the Anasazi could see any unwanted visitors approaching.

Wupatki National Monument

Also a Hopi site with ancient kivas and pueblos, located just outside the reservations along US 89.  Interesting – see photos.

Petrified Forest and Meteor Crater

Petrified Forest National Park

Meteor Crater

On a previous visit in 2023 I was able to squeeze in both Petrified Forest, which is a national park with its own exit on I-40, and Meteor Crater which is a private attraction, in one day.  With the Petrified Forest you also get the Painted Desert all on the same auto tour.  Meteor Crater also has its own I-40 exit so it’s easy to get to.

Bruce Hossfield, Atwo Zee Registered Traveler