Hotels in The Hopi Reservation

Options are limited on the Hopi reservation itself; visitors generally stay at hotels in either Winslow to the south, or Tuba City to the west. If you’ve brought your food along, you’ll find picnic tables just east of Oraibi on top of the mesa. These tables have an amazing view!

En Route to or from the Hopi Mesas

On the west side of the reservation, in Tuba City, the Tuba City Trading Post, Main St. and Moenave Ave. (tel. 928/283-5441), was built in 1906 of local stone. Its octagonal design is meant to resemble a Navajo hogan or traditional home (there’s also a real hogan on the grounds). The trading post sells Native American crafts, with an emphasis on books, music, and jewelry. Across the parking lot from the trading post and next to the Quality Inn, you’ll find Hogan Espresso, 10 N. Main St. (tel. 928/283-4545), one of the few places on the reservation where you can get espresso. It’s open Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm, Saturday from 9am to 7pm, and Sunday 9am to 4pm. Another rarity, but less rare as time rolls on: Hogan Espresso offers free Wi-Fi to go along with its delicious coffee.

Behind the trading post, you’ll find the Explore Navajo Interactive Museum (tel. 928/640-0684), housed in a tentlike structure used for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. A good introduction to Navajo culture, the museum includes a traditional Navajo hogan. (There is also a Navajo code talkers museum in the trading post, open 8am to 5pm daily.) In summer, the museum is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm; call for hours in other months. Admission is $9 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $6 for children ages 7 to 12.

West of Tuba City and just off U.S. 160, you can see dinosaur footprints preserved in the stone surface of the desert. There are usually a few people waiting at the site to guide visitors to the best footprints (these guides will expect a tip of a few dollars). The scenery out your car window is some of the strangest in the region—you’ll see lots of red-rock sandstone formations that resemble petrified sand dunes.