For an RV camping vacation that’s also a history lesson, consider exploring historic Native American sites. The suggestions below represent just a few of the hundreds of places you can learn about the role of Native Americans in our nation’s history.

Native American History Campervan Vacations – Four Corners Itinerary
Where the borders of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet, you’ll find a treasure trove of Native American history. In the Four Corners area you can visit Mesa Verde, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, and Monument Valley.

Mesa Verde, in southwestern Colorado, is the site of ancient cliff dwellings and spectacular scenery. Winding roads lead to the edge of the canyon throughout this National Park. You’ll find numerous lookout points that offer jaw-dropping views of the cliff dwellings where ancient Puebloans lived for more than seven hundred years.

North and west of Mesa Verde, along the Utah-Colorado border, you’ll find Hovenweep National Monument. The ruins of six prehistoric Pueblo dwellings dot the Hovenweep canyons, with towers rising high above the canyon walls.

Continue your Native American history RV vacation with a stop in Monument Valley in northeastern Arizona. She probably remembers the sandstone hills and towers from hundreds of westerns filmed there. Native American guides who live within the valley will take you off the beaten track to sites that mark the legacy of his ancestors.

Your final leg of a Four Corners RV camping trip should definitely include Canyon de Chelly near the Arizona/New Mexico border. The Canyon, located entirely on Navajo tribal land, offers historical treasures worth an entire vacation. The canyons and windswept hills of Canyon de Chelly are home to more than two thousand archaeological sites.

Native American History Campervan Vacations – Northern Itinerary
When you’re ready for another round of Native American history, plan an RV campground in the Badlands and Black Hills of the North Central US. The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana lets visitors relive the battle that took place. claimed the lives of most of the 7th Cavalry Division under the command of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer in 1876. Here, at the site where Sitting Bull and several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were victorious, you’ll find stunning scenery and many artifacts native americans to explore.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are home to the Crazy Horse Memorial, where sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began creating his massive tribute to the Lakota chief in 1948. Come see how the colossal sculpture’s progress continues, and stay to visit the Center Native American Cultural and North American Indian Museum.

End your RV camping trip to find Native American history with a stop at the Wounded Knee Museum in Wall, South Dakota. About fifty miles from the actual site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, the Museum tells the story of the tragic deaths of nearly 300 Lakota Sioux at Pine Ridge.

As you travel through the Badlands and Black Hills, there are plenty of well-equipped RV campgrounds to serve you. Why not learn more on your next vacation about the significant contribution Native Americans have made to our history? Turn your RV into a rolling classroom and get ready to be inspired!