Chinle, Arizona
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Chinle census division. It lies in ZIP code area 86503. It stands on Cottonwood Wash. The Survey maps it on the Chinle quadrangle. 4,573 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,505 feet above sea level.
On record in Chinle
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Canyon de Chelly National Monumentlisted 1970- Chinle Franciscan Mission Historic Districtlisted 2007
Surveyed buildings and structures 6 records
- Antelope House Ruin, Canyon del Muerto, Chinlefederal building survey, 5 photographs
- Bad Trail Ruin, Chinlefederal building survey, 4 photographs
- Ledge Ruin, Canyon del Muerto, Chinlefederal building survey, 5 photographs
- Mummy Cave, Navajo Indian Reservation, Chinlefederal building survey, 4 photographs
- White House Ruin, Navajo Indian Reservation, Chinlefederal building survey, 5 photographs
- Yucca House Ruin, Canyon del Muerto, Chinlefederal building survey, 4 photographs
Population over time
2 figuresChinle grew from 4,518 to 4,573 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4,518 | |
| 2020 | 4,573 | +55 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1892 USGS Canyon De Chelly quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1954 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1955 USGS Chinle 4 NE quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Chinle quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Canyon De Chelly quadrangle1:100000
Photographs
1 photograph,Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
55 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 55 fires within 5 miles of Chinle between 1994 and 2020, burning about 111 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 11 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 23 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 2010 | Natural | under an acre | Canyon De Chelly National Monument | ARROW FIRE |
| 26 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | CAPCONTROL |
| 19 September 2006 | Other causes | under an acre | Canyon De Chelly National Monument | WHITE HOUSE TRAIL |
| 19 August 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | DEL MUERTO 1 |
| 5 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | NORTH RIM |
| 5 July 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Canyon De Chelly National Monument | TRASH FIRE |
| 4 July 2011 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | CHINLE IHS SW |
| 2 July 2017 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | TSEGI |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Chinle: 7 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Uranium, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Many Farms-Bia Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Uranium Deposit | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Uranium Deposit | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Uranium Deposit | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Uranium Deposits | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Uranium Deposits | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Zealy-Tso Drilling Block | Uranium | Unknown |
Storms near this place
14 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chinle in 14 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 10 flash flood, 2 flood, 1 funnel cloud, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1997 | Flash Flood | Chinle | $1,000 | Several reports of flooding around the Chinle area. First reports were received northwest of Chinle near the community of Rough Rock where Reservation Route 59 was impassable due to floodwaters. The last reports were received near Chinle where Reservation Route 27 was also flooded over. |
| April 2023 | Flood | Chinle | - | The Navajo Nation Emergency Manager reported flooding in Chinle on the Chinle Creek early on April 23. The flood warning was downgraded to an advisory on April 30. The emergency operations center was staffed until May 9th. |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | A few people were evacuated from a home that flooded in eastern Chinle near Canyon de Chelly. The time was estimated from radar. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | Several videos of major flooding north of Chinle were posted on social media. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | Chinle Police received a report of water flowing across a road near Tselani and Cottonwood at 330 PM MST. |
| August 2015 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | A thunderstorm produce heavy rain and a flash flood in de Chelly Wash. There was one fatality when a truck overturned in the flooded wash around 700 PM MDT. |
| August 2015 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | The Nazlini Wash flooded low water crossings. |
| September 2015 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | The Chinle Police Department reported that Indian Route 27 was impassable due to flash flooding south of Chinle. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | Heavy rain over the Canyon De Chelly National Monument caused flash flooding in Pueblo Co Wash. The water was snapping trees along the banks of the wash. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | Businesses were flooded at the junction of Highway 191 and Hospital Drive. Flooding was also reported on Highway 191 at mile post 446.8. |
| August 2007 | Flood | Chinle | - | Widespread flooding was reported in Chinle by Navajo County Sheriff's office. Flooding was also reported along Highway 59 near Rough Rock. Businesses and some homes along Highway 91 in Chinle were under up to two feet of water. |
| September 2002 | Flash Flood | Chinle | - | The Chinle Police Department reported flooding along the Chinle Wash from the confluence of the Canyon de Chelly Wash northward to Rock Point. People were evacuated as flood waters threatened homes along the Chinle Wash. One mobile home was washed off its foundations. Additional flooding was reported over the bridge on Nazlini Creek near Chinle. |
| August 1999 | Funnel Cloud | Chinle | - | Chinle Police Department officers reported a funnel cloud west of Highway 191. |
| July 2002 | Hail | Chinle | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junction Overlook | 3.4 miles | 17 | |
| Del Muerto | 6.2 miles | 17 | |
| Flat Rock | 10.3 miles | 15 | |
| Coyote Springs | 11.3 miles | 14 | |
| Many Farms | 14.1 miles | 15 | |
| Nazlini | 18.6 miles | 19 | |
| White Clay | 18.7 miles | 18 | |
| Tahchee | 18.8 miles | 14 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Chinle | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1026032 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 2861. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.






