White House Tail - Canyon de Chelly
Posted by: 
linkys
N 36° 07.825 W 109° 28.622
12S E 637040 N 3999488
A 1.5 mile trail that leads down into Canyon de Chelly National Monument and terminates at the White House ruins.
Waymark Code: WM7HQF
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 10/28/2009
Views: 17
The trail to White House Ruin begins to the right of the White House overlook along the Monument's south road. The trail is known to the Navajo as the Women's Trail, because in the past women often used this trail to move sheep in and out of the grazing areas in the Canyon. The trail is a 2.5 mile round-trip, and is the only hike in the canyon permitted without a guide; because of this you must stay on the trail at all times. Total time for the hike including a stop at the ruins is about 3 hours. Note that all of the land in the monument belongs to the Navajo people and the National Park Service only administers policies within the Monuments boundaries which is why you need a guide to travel off the trail.
Trail head sign, at this point you are 550 feet above the canyon floor. The lighter colored sandstone marks the trail and as you walk this portion to the rim there are cairns marking the trail.
Looking down into the canyon, our destination is out of view behind the butte in the center of the image.
Tunnels cut through the sandstone cliffs.
These exquisite designs in the sandstone cliffs are the cross banded layering of the sand as it was originally laid down during the Permian age, more than 200 million years ago.
The half way point of the trail, the White House Ruins, where according to archaeological studies, up to 12 Anasazi families may have lived in the AD 1060-1275 time frame.
To complete the hike you must return by the same trail, which will give you the opportunity to see all the things you missed on the way down.