The canyons and plateaus of the Grand Canyon region have been home to Tribes since time immemorial. These lands are described in many Indigenous languages as a center of civilization and culture. It is known as baaj nwaavjo (“where Indigenous peoples roam”) by the Havasupai and i’tah kukveni (“our ancestral footprints”) by the Hopi.
Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni is pronounced "Baahj-Nuh-Waahv-Joh Ee-Tah-Kook-Venny"
The sweeping plateaus to the south, northeast, and northwest of Grand Canyon National Park constitute three distinct areas, each of which is an integral part of the broader Grand Canyon ecosystem. These three distinct areas comprise the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
As part of the broader Grand Canyon region, these lands are central to America’s conservation history. Today, the lands of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument are known around the world for some of the greatest natural wonders on the planet; supporting a remarkable diversity of wildlife and plants that flourish in its vast and well-connected ecosystem; and being home to a rich, diverse, and thriving cultural heritage.
Recreation Opportunities
The region provides exceptional opportunities for hiking, hunting, fishing, biking, horseback riding, backpacking, scenic driving, and wildlife viewing. The southern and northeastern areas in particular are popular for hunting, including elk, mule deer, and bison.
Places to Visit
Red Butte
Towering above the landscape is Red Butte, called Wii’i Gdwiisa by the Havasupai, and defined by an eroded rock and basalt cap from ancient lava. Sacred to the Havasupai, Hualapai, Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni people, Red Butte and the surrounding area are central to Tribal creation stories and contain extensive remains of tools and toolmaking and Navajo structures.
Hull Cabin
Sheep ranchers built the Hull Cabin in 1889 near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and maintained for visitors. It memorializes some of the area’s ranching and mining history. The historic Hull Cabin is located on the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest.
Apex Logging Camp
The Apex Logging Camp contains evidence of the timber industry in the 1930s and is the focus of ongoing research at an archaeological field school. Once the headquarters camp of the Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company and located on the top of the steepest grade on the Grand Canyon Railroad line, the town of Apex provided wood that was used to build the railroad, timber the mines, and construct the resorts along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Remnants, such as the foundation of a one-room school house constructed from converted box cars, can still be seen today. They help tell the story of Apex Logging Camp, which, between 1928 and 1936, provided a home for lumberjacks and locomotive crews.
Grand Canyon Airport Historic District
Within the southern area, the Grand Canyon Airport Historic District includes a decommissioned airport listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It operated in the 1920s to bring visitors, including celebrities like Amelia Earhart, Will Rogers, and Charles Lindbergh, to view the wonders of the Grand Canyon.
Grandview Lookout Tower
The Grandview Lookout Tower and its associated cabin are near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. They were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936 to aid the Forest Service and the National Park Service in detecting wildland fires.
Tusayan Ranger Station
The six historic buildings used to administer the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest, including a house, barn, and corral, were constructed between 1939 and 1942 and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tusayan Montane (formerly Ten-X) Campground
Originally named Ten-X, the campground was built in the 1970’s when camping was a much smaller affair – smaller group sizes, smaller vehicles, mostly tents. It originally had 75 campsites. The Forest Service recently expanded and improved (and renamed) the campground to accommodate much larger vehicles, RV’s and trailers. The Tusayan Montane Campground is located just south of the Town of Tusayan and is the Forest Service’s only developed campground within the monument.
Trails
- Arizona Trail (Tusayan Ranger District)
- Tusayan Mountain Bike Trails (Tusayan Ranger District)
- Vishnu Trail (Tusayan Ranger District)
Vehicles - Designated Forest Service Roads Only
When driving through, remember that vehicles must stay on the designated Forest Service System roads. A free Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is available at Kaibab National Forest offices and online. Users can also download a GPS-enabled Travel Aid Map for use on mobile devices.
Sacred Ancestral Lands
These are the ancestral homelands of and are considered sacred by many Tribes, including the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, Moapa Band of Paiutes, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Navajo Nation, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Yavapai Prescott, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
The surrounding plateaus, canyons, and tributaries of the Colorado River are spiritually significant to Indigenous Peoples and play a role in many creation stories. The area’s features are central and sacred components of the origin and history of multiple Tribal Nations, weaving together overlapping spiritual, cultural, and territorial systems. Many Tribes note that their ancestors are buried here, and refer to this area as their eternal home, a place of healing, and a source of spiritual sustenance. Like their ancestors, Indigenous Peoples continue to use many of these areas for religious ceremonies, hunting, and gathering plants, medicines, and other materials, including some found nowhere else on Earth. For example, south of Red Butte, Gray Mountain, called Dziłbeeh by the Navajo, is part of Navajo ceremonial songs, stories, and rituals and served as a refuge for the Navajo people.
For hundreds of years and likely much longer, Indigenous Peoples used trails to access sacred or important sites in surrounding areas. These pathways can still be seen on the landscape, and in many cases they continue to be actively used. There are many physical remnants of human habitation at Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, including pottery and lithic sites containing stone tools that may be more than 10,000 years old.
The monument contains more than 3,000 known cultural and historic sites; there are likely more in areas that have not been surveyed. Indigenous Peoples hunted, farmed, and gathered here, some moving among camps in different places to take advantage of the best seasonal times and locations to hunt or harvest resources. More than 50 species of plants, including catsclaw, willow, soapweed, and piñon, that grow in the area have been identified as important to Tribal Nations.
10,000 years ago or more. USDA Forest Service photo.
These lands also hold a painful story of removal and dispossession of Indigenous Peoples from their traditional lands. Yet Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Nations persevered, continuing their sacred practices.
The health and vitality of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument today is in no small part thanks to the tireless work of the lands’ first and most devoted guardians and caretakers. Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples have remained steadfast in their commitment to protect a landscape that is integral to their identity and indispensable to the health and well-being of millions of people living in the Southwest.
A Rich Geologic Story
A defining feature of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument is its scientifically unique sedimentary and tectonic history. The groundwater dynamics within the landscape are among the best-studied in the United States. Groundwater moving through this complex and distinctive system flows across hundreds of miles of arid and desert lands into the Colorado River and ultimately into the Pacific Ocean in Mexico.
The hydrology and geology of the Grand Canyon and this new national monument are deeply intertwined. Located within the Colorado Plateau and adjacent to the Grand Canyon, the area’s remarkable geology is characterized by exposed sedimentary rock and high, sometimes deeply incised, plateaus.
The national monument offers many opportunities for scientific discovery and understanding. Sites here are instrumental in long-term scientific studies of air pollution, airborne particulates, and visibility. Paleontological resources are also found throughout the area. The monument’s dramatic geology offers important opportunities to enhance understanding of tectonic uplift and canyon incision and hydrological dynamics of regional aquifers.
Its surface and groundwater flow are directed by the landscape’s extensive fractures and faults, which form seeps and springs that serve as small oases in the otherwise hot, dry landscape and support some of the most biodiverse habitats in the Colorado Plateau.
A Unique Ecology
Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument contains creek beds, grasslands, and forests that are home to ecologically important and sensitive plant and animal species.
The northwest area houses parts of Kanab Creek, which creates habitat for bird species, including the threatened western yellow-billed cuckoo and endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, and amphibians.
The grasslands are home to endemic and sensitive plant species, such as Arizona leatherflower and the Arizona phlox, Tusayan rabbitbrush, and Morton wild buckwheat. Among these plants, pronghorn, ferruginous hawks, and western burrowing owls can be found.
The monument’s pinyon and juniper woodlands are home to birds such as the pinyon jay and juniper titmouse. This forest ecosystem provides an understory of native grasses and shrubs that form an important winter range for elk and mule deer.
At higher elevations, petran montane conifer forests grow with ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, white fir, Gambel oak, and many other trees and shrubs. Here can be found the Abert’s squirrel, northern goshawk, Merriam’s turkey, and a variety of raptors and neotropical migratory songbirds. Elk and mountain lion can also be found here.
Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument is home to many other unique and diverse plants and animals. Visitors can find Grand Canyon rose, Tusayan rabbitbrush, sentry milkvetch, and Fickeisen plains cactus. Visitors may spot rare insects, such as the Grand Canyon ringlet butterfly and Kaibab monkey grasshopper. It is also home to rare mammals, such as Allen’s lappet-browed bat and the House Rock Valley chisel-toothed kangaroo rat.