AMERICAN
SOUTHWEST
October 12 - 22, 2026
Indigenous people have made their home in the vast deserts and red rock landscapes of northern Arizona and southern Utah for thousands of years and their ties to this arid land are unbroken even now. To travel through this environment is to travel with generations of people whose lives, histories, foods, stories, and art are inextricably entwined with the land. During this 10-day journey we will be immersed in the geologic, archeologic, and cultural history of this region. We'll learn about the ancient Puebloan peoples and their current descendants the Hopi, and about the Diné, whose lands comprise most of the trip.
Boundary End Adventures promotes sustainable tourism in Southwest and Indigenous communities. Your participation supports Boundary End Archeology Research Center and the people and places we visit together.
In the Land of Light and Stone
An immersive journey into the natural and cultural worlds of the American Southwest
Join us on our next adventure benefitting the mission of Boundary End Archeology Research Center. Here is a sneak preview of the current itinerary, subject to change as we continue planning your Southwest adventure!
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST 2026
Itinerary
Monday, October 12, 2026
Make your way to the mountain town of Flagstaff, Arizona on your own. We have a block of rooms at the Doubletree Hilton on west Route 66
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Lodging: Doubletree Hilton, Flagstaff, Arizona
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Orientation and a visit the Museum of Northern Arizona and Walnut Canyon National Monument
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Lodging: Doubletree Hilton, Flagstaff, Arizona. Lunch and Welcome dinner included.
This morning you’ll meet your group leaders and have an orientation that will touch on the geography and cultural history of the region we will be traveling through. Flagstaff was founded in the late 19th century, but long before Europeans made their mark here, ancient Sinagua people hunted and grew crops on the flanks and at the base of the San Francsico Peaks. We will visit the renowned Museum of Northern Arizona for an introduction to these and other Indigenous peoples of the region. After a picnic lunch in the pines, we will visit Walnut Canyon National Monument, just east of town. Here, the Sinagua built homes into overhangs in the limestone cliffs and lived overlooking the shaded canyon between roughly 1100 and 1250 CE. We’ll return to the Doubletree Hotel and have a welcome dinner that evening at a local restaurant.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Visit Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments, East Rim of Grand Canyon National Park
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Lodging: Cameron Trading Post, Cameron, Arizona. Lunch and dinner included.
This morning we’ll pack up and leave Flagstaff. We will visit Sunset Crater National Monument on our way north. Sunset Crater began erupting in 1065 CE, the most recent volcanic eruption in the San Francisco Volcanic Field. The Hopi people to the east even saw the eruptions and have legends about them. The Sinagua people also lived very near Sunset Crater in a series of villages collectively protected as Wupatki National Monument. The main village of Wupatki itself is notable for being the site of the northernmost ballcourt in North America, suggesting at least a trading connection to the Mesoamerican world to the south. We will spend time in both national monuments, exploring their geology, geography, and archeology. Later in the day, we will make a quick side trip up to the eastern rim of the Grand Canyon to get a perspective on the big picture landscape, as well as visit the Desert View Watchtower. The watchtower was designed by Mary Colter, whose name you will hear again towards the end of the trip. She was a pioneer in the tradition of building structures to fit with their natural environment, designing the watchtower to mimic some of the Puebloan archeological sites in the region. Inside the watchtower are restored murals and paintings done by Hopi artisans. We will head east again to stay at the historic Cameron hotel for the night.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Visit Hopi Mesas
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Lodging: Hopi Cultural Center Hotel, Arizona. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
Our entire day today will be spent at the Hopi Mesas, about 1.5 hours northeast of Cameron. More than a dozen villages lie scattered across three high mesas and at their base. The Hopi have lived on these mesas for more than 1,000 years, growing corn, beans, and squash in fields around the mesas. From here, we can clearly see the sacred mountain Nuva'tukya'ovi (the San Francisco Peaks) rising in the distance above the surrounding grasslands. We will visit several of the villages and spend the night at the Hopi Cultural Center Motel in the village of Shongopovi on Second Mesa. The Hopi are particularly known for fine pottery and their beautiful overlay silverwork, and you’ll have a chance to explore these and other art forms. Today you will need to leave your cameras and phones inside your bags; the Tribe requires that no one take pictures or make any type of recordings while on their land.
Friday, October 16, 2026
Visit Canyon de Chelley
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Lodging: Goulding’s Lodge, Monument Valley, Utah. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
In the morning, we drive east about 1.5 hours to Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The monument centers around two remarkable sandstone canyons carved into the Defiance Plateau: Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. Both canyons are permeated with prehistory and history. Ancestral Puebloans built on the canyons’ floors and in the walls. More recently the Diné settled here and used the labyrinthine canyons to hide from persecution by European settlers. We will tour Canyon de Chelly for several hours with a local Diné guide before leaving to relocate about 2 hours to Monument Valley. We will be traveling through the heart of Diné lands, what they call Diné Bikeyah, and it is a wild and windswept landscape. We cross into Utah just before arriving at our lodging for the next two nights: the legendary Goulding’s Lodge. This is where John Wayne and many other stars stayed while filming John Ford’s famous westerns, so you’ll be in good company!
Saturday, October 17, 2026
All-day tour of Monument Valley
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Lodging: Goulding’s Lodge, Monument Valley, Utah. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
We will spend all day touring Monument Valley with a local Diné guide. This is one of the most iconic and recognizable landscapes anywhere in the world, and its fame is warranted. It’s absolutely beautiful, and the geologic story is only matched by the historical and cultural ones. We will visit ancient petroglyph sites and fascinating geologic features, and learn about the Diné culture throughout the day. Because we will be out all day with our tour, it will allow us to visit places that fewer people get to, like Mystery Valley.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Visit Goosenecks of the San Juan State Park, Cedar Mesa, Valley of the Gods
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Lodging: Recapture Lodge, Bluff, Utah. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
We will leave Monument Valley and head north, towards the San Juan River, which forms the northern boundary of the reservation. In the distance we'll be able to see the spires and mesas of Cedar Mesa, Valley of the Gods, the Bears Ears, the Raplee Anticline, and the Abajo Mountains. This is a breathtakingly beautiful drive, filled with history, geology, and many photo ops. We can take our time stop at several sites of interest, including the Goosenecks of the San Juan (I guarantee if you ever took a geology class, a picture of them was in your textbook!). We’ll drive up the Moki Dugway to Muley Point on top of Cedar Mesa, which affords an unmatched view of our surroundings. We will arrive in the small pioneer town of Bluff during the afternoon, which will give everyone a chance to settle in and enjoy the shaded grounds of the historic Recapture Lodge. In the evening we will have an orientation from Tsé Kooh Outfitters for the next day’s river trip down the San Juan.
Monday, October 19, 2026
All-day river trip on the San Juan River
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Lodging: Recapture Lodge, Bluff, Utah. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
The San Juan River was known by the local Indigenous people as the “River Flowing from the Sunrise.” It comes out of the San Juan Mountains to the east, and flows through the Four Corners, across Diné Bikeyah, and out to the Colorado River in what is now Lake Powell. It is one of the most important waterways in the region and has been a center of settlement for thousands of years, from ancestral Puebloans, to Paiute, Nuchiu (Ute), Diné, Mormon pioneers, and even early river runners. Today’s river trip travels 26 miles from Bluff to the settlement of Mexican Hat. Along the way, we will visit several prehistoric and historic sites and see geology so amazing that everyone can understand it! The rapids on this stretch are small and you do not have to have any specific experience or training to take this trip. We’ll return to the Recapture Lodge late in the afternoon.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Visit Hubbell Trading Post
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Lodging: La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
We’ll leave southern Utah and head back south to Arizona. Along the way, we will stop at Hubbell Trading Post. Although it is now a National Historic Site, this was one of the standard bearers of the trading post system on Diné lands and has been operating since 1878. When the Diné were finally allowed to return to their lands after having been removed to Bosque Redondo in the late 1860s, they were joined by European traders who set up posts where the People could buy groceries, pawn jewelry and rugs, and sell wool and other items. Hubbell is the oldest operating trading post on the Diné Nation, and it’s a fascinating place to spend some time. We will continue south to the railroad town of Winslow, along I-40. Here we will check into the historic La Posada Hotel, designed by Mary Colter for the Fred Harvey Company, founded in 1876 to cater to travelers along the railroad with a chain of hotels and restaurants.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Visit Petrified Forest National Park
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Lodging: La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
We’ll spend the day at Petrified Forest National Park, exploring the strange and otherworldly landscape and the ancient peoples who lived here hundreds of years ago. Ancestors to the modern Hopi people managed to make a living here growing crops and hunting and gathering. They lived surrounded by the remains of plants and animals that lived along ancient rivers 225 million years ago. They built their homes with pieces of petrified wood and carved extraordinary images on rock to represent their clans and tell their stories. Petrified Forest often gets overlooked because of its flashier neighbors like Grand Canyon. But it is truly an exceptional place, an important piece in the story of the ancient peoples of the region. We will return to the La Posada Hotel for the night.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Visit Homolovi Ruins State Park, perhaps Meteor Crater
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Lodging: Doubletree Hilton, Flagstaff, Arizona. Breakfast, lunch and farewell dinner included.
On the way back to Flagstaff we will stop at Homolovi Ruins State Park. This Arizona state park preserves an impressive collection of more than 300 sites from the 1200s to the late 1300s, the Hopi “late migration period.” There are some short trails to stretch our legs, and we’ll have a chance to wrap up the things we’ve learned along the way. We will return to the Doubletree Hotel in Flagstaff by early afternoon and have a farewell dinner this evening.
Friday, October 23, 2026
Depart for home at your own pace.
Travel Insurance
Boundary End Adventures recommends USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services. There are many other options and we very strongly recommend that you find a policy that fits your needs.
Questions? Contact us at info@boundaryend.com
