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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in
Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. |
#2
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
In article . com,
asdf3b wrote: Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. You can do almost everything, but not entirely everything, in a Subaru. I was there in April, and considered it more than sufficient. It's also a recommended vacation area. Take a horseback tour. |
#3
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
"asdf3b" wrote... Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. You will be able to go to a lot of places on The Rez with any car, certainly with an AWD. In the cases where conditions get tough, high clearance and "tough" tires are oftentimes much more important that 4WD or AWD. Give us a feeling for the most off-the-beaten-track roads you plan to travel and we may have more advice. Time of year can also be an issue w.r.t. monsoon rains and snowmelt issues. For timing plans, assume that you will get temporarily lost when on the Rez's back roads and don't expect to do better than 30 mph oftentimes. Take water and food. If there's a signal where you are, a cell phone could be very handy. If worst comes to worst, try to be able to describe by cell phone where you are and how you got there--or have a GPS to give help to the tow truck driver or other folks. From the various maps I've seen, they seem to include only a small portion of the various roads and tracks on the Rez. What seems a slam dunk via map can become quite a challenge on the ground, and even more so if you're running low on water or fuel or have some other issue. If you truly get "lost", remembering how you got there will let you back out the way you came in. There's an incredible view of Coal Mine Canyon just off Hwy 264 worth visiting with any car--less than a mile of non-pavement. If there's been any recent rain in the state--wishful thinking, it seems--a trip out to the Grand Fall of the Little Colorado River from Leupp Rd is wonderful. A more challenging solo trip might be to wend your way from the Hopi Mesas through Pinon, Black Mesa and back to pavement near Navajo NM and Kayenta. If there's no water at Grand Falls, another trip that's exciting is to cross the Little Colorado just above the Falls, then travel through the Rez to Black Falls Crossing which leaves the Rez and enters Wupatki NM and eventually pavement again. The short loop you can make solo in Monument Valley can be done--slowly--with almost any vehicle. But honestly, a guided tour into Monument Valley is so much better--and I'd done both solo in a small rental auto and the all-day guided Monument Valley tours. I have yet to take a guided trip into Canyon de Chelly but imagine that'd be great, too. For nice lodging with the best window views I've ever seen, spending a night at Gouldings Lodge just outside of Monument Valley is super--they offer guided tours into the Valley as well. Prices vary a lot seasonally for lodging--I chose the cheapest off-season for my night at the Lodge. Don't sleep through sunset or sunrise. Camping is available in Monument Valley with views as great as from Gouldings and at a much lower price. And if you haven't read them, before starting the trip read the various Tony Hillerman murder mysteries. Please read them in order of publication! The CAA Indian Country Map is great. I think there's also a "Tony Hillerman" map available. Good luck. Have fun. Don't get discouraged--I'm giving you a worst-case scenario above since you haven't told us where you plan to travel. Craig in Flagstaff |
#4
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
On Jun 28, 12:25 pm, asdf3b wrote:
Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. Depends. There are highways that are usable by regular sedans. There are roads that are accessible using AWD or 4WD. Then there are roads which may not be accessible at all, esp. after a heavy rain. There are also areas that are restricted. |
#5
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
asdf3b wrote: Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. Not if it rains. Even a 4x4 can get stuck in mud or wet sand. That's why they should have a winch. |
#6
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:24:00 -0400, "Frank F. Matthews"
wrote: asdf3b wrote: Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. Not if it rains. Even a 4x4 can get stuck in mud or wet sand. That's why they should have a winch. With the caveat that there may not be anything to hook the cable to; the Navajo Nation can be a pretty barren in places. -- ************* DAVE HATUNEN ) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * |
#7
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:25:51 -0700, asdf3b
wrote: Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. AWD *is* 4x4. But without knowing the model we can't know what sort of road clearance you have. My Forester seems to be adequate for *most* purposes, and I've bombed down some pretty rugged roads here in Arizona and northern Mexico. Most roads in the Navajo Nation are either paved or are good dirt roads. But there are some dirt roads that aren't well-maintained and, frankly, you probably ought to stay off them if you're inexperienced in driving in the desert. Not all roads are open to the public. You've been cautioned in other posts about traveling in the rainy season; washes that are usually dry can suddenly become raging torrents even though it's not raining where you are. Even worse, though, where roads cross dry washes heavy deposits of sand may be deposited at the bottom during rainy seasons, and it's surprisingly easy to get a 4x4 stuck in sand. Being stuck in the sand twenty miles from nowhere on a road with traffic of about one car a day can be downright dangerous, especially during the summer. Every year we read in the papers about someone who has died in the Navajo Nation after becoming stuck in sand. Be sure to carry several gallons of water per person when exploring back roads anywhere in Arizona; with luck you won't need them, but if you do need them you will be very happy you brought them. If you are a member of an AAA organization or if you have a friend who is, try to get your hands on the Indian Country map. It probably isn't available everywhere, and probably becomes rarer the further you are from northern Arizona, but it's well worth having. The one must-see is Canyon de Chelly. Take the all-day tour (you can only take tours) if at all possible: it's well worth it. -- ************* DAVE HATUNEN ) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * |
#8
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
In article ,
Hatunen wrote: The one must-see is Canyon de Chelly. Take the all-day tour (you can only take tours) if at all possible: it's well worth it. By which you must mean the horse tour, I hope. |
#9
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
Todd Michel McComb wrote:
In article . com, asdf3b wrote: Greetings! I would like to visit Navajo Indian reservations in Arizona. I have an All wheel Drive car. Will AWD will be sufficient or I need 4x4 SUV? I live in USA. With thanks. You can do almost everything, but not entirely everything, in a Subaru. I was there in April, and considered it more than sufficient. What were the few things that you could not do with a Subaru on the Navajo lands (that you would have been able to do with a higher clearance SUV)? - Peter |
#10
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Navajo Indian reservation and AWD drive car
On Jun 29, 5:58 am, Hatunen wrote:
snipped The one must-see is Canyon de Chelly. Take the all-day tour (you can only take tours) if at all possible: it's well worth it. I also recommend Canyon de Chelly, and it#s been a while since I've been there. It's my favorite canyon country place. The statement about tours isn't exactly correct. Basically, you can drive along the rim of both canyons on the highway and stop at a few vista points. You can also walk the trail to one of the cliff dwellings from the rim to the canyon floor. Otherwise, to access the canyon floor you have to have a Navajo guide with you. This can be done as a tour on the back of a truck which has seats, or can be done with your own four wheel drive or the guides, and also by horseback. Whatever you do, you should have an excellent trip. Unfortunately we didn't have time for the whole day trip which I would also recommend as it will take you up to Spider Rock which otherwise you can only view from above at the canyon rim. George |
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