Cliff Dwellers
September 12–22, 2024
$2,595 per person ($480 single supplement)
They rank among the most amazing archaeological sites anywhere: walls and doorways, towers and kivas, all tucked neatly into sandstone cliffs. More than 700 years ago, the Ancestral Puebloan and Sinagua cultures of the Four Corners region called these cliff dwellings home. Warm and dry during the winter, the secluded pueblos may also have protected villagers from attacking enemies.
Today, amidst the scenery of Arizona and Colorado, our tour presents the most famous of the region’s cliff dwellings, as well as modern-day pueblos and several Conservancy preserves. Archaeologists well-versed in the region’s prehistory will accompany the tour.
Tour Schedule
Thursday
Join us for a welcoming reception at the Doubletree Hotel in Tempe.
September 12
L
Friday
We’ll visit the Heard Museum and explore the Hohokam platform mound complex at S’edav Va’aki. We’ll also visit Park of the Canals where segments of Hohokam irrigation canals have been preserved. We’ll spend the evening in Tempe at the Doubletree Hotel.
September 13
L
Saturday
In the morning, we’ll visit the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve. Later, we’ll tour Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments, both Southern Sinagua sites, as well as a Conservancy preserve. We’ll spend the next two evenings at one of the grandest railroad hotels ever built, the beautifully restored La Posada in Winslow.
September 14
L
Sunday
We’ll visit the Sinagua cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon near Flagstaff. We’ll tour Homol’ovi State Park near Winslow. A proto-Hopi site, Homol’ovi is now a center of research for the late migration period of the Hopi from the A.D. 1200s to the late 1300s
September 15
L
Monday
We’ll tour Second Mesa at Hopi and visit the Hopi Cultural Center. We’ll visit Ganado’s Hubbell Trading Post, the oldest operating trading post on the Navajo Nation. We’ll spend the next two evenings at Thunderbird Lodge at Canyon de Chelly.
September 16
L
Tuesday
In the morning we’ll take a jeep tour of Canyon de Chelly. In the afternoon, we’ll tour the rim.
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September 17
L
Wednesday
We’ll visit the Canyon of the Ancients visitor center and museum and the Escalante and Dominguez pueblos, as well as the Conservancy’s Yellow Jacket Pueblo in the Montezuma Valley. We’ll spend two evenings at the Far View Lodge in Mesa Verde National Park.
September 18
L
Thursday
We’ll spend the day exploring the extensive cliff dwellings and mesa top communities at Mesa Verde, a World Heritage Site. There are more than 4,500 known archaeological sites protected by the park, including 600 cliff dwellings that were inhabited from A.D. 600 to 1300.
September 19
L
Friday
We’ll tour spectacular Monument Valley. Then we’ll visit Navajo National Monument and get a view of Betatakin, a remote Kayenta Anasazi cliff dwelling. We’ll spend the evening at the Twin Arrows Navajo Casino and Resort near Flagstaff.
September. 20
L
Saturday
We’ll explore Wupatki National Monument, a Sinagua site that also contains Hohokam and Anasazi features. Then we’ll visit the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff that houses state of the art collections facilities for more than five million Native American artifacts. We’ll then take a drive through scenic Oak Creek Canyon. We’ll spend the evening at the Doubletree Hotel in Tempe.
September 21
L
Sunday
Participants depart for home.
September 22
Cliff Dwellers
Tour Details
Cost includes first class hotel accommodations based on double occupancy (single supplement is $480), lunches, happy hours, expert Conservancy and special guides, admittance fees, tours and orientations, background reading, and surface travel via air-conditioned bus with restroom. Not included are meals other than lunches and travel to and from Phoenix.
The tour is at altitudes of up to 8,200 feet. People with heart or respiratory problems should consult their physician. People unaccustomed to higher altitudes sometimes experience fatigue and dizziness. A modest amount of walking is required. Some cliff dwellings are accessible only by ladders.
