Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, Art and I each watched our share of westerns on TV; Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, Wagon Train, Bonanza, and we can’t forget, the Lone Ranger! Western movies , many of which were filmed in Monument Valley, were also popular at the time.
We have seen Monument Valley in more recent movies too, Back to the Future III, Forrest Gump, National Lampoon’s Vacation, and the Lone Ranger (2013 version). Once you have seen Monument Valley you recognize it every time, it is so very distinctive.
Our First Attempt
About 14 years ago, Art and I decided to take a trip out west through some of the most beautiful US National Parks; Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches and Mesa Verde. Included in our plans was a drive through Monument Valley. We were stoked, we were going to actually be in Monument Valley!
Mid-September arrived and we were off to Las Vegas to begin our journey. The weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny, warm days and cloudless, cool nights, day after day, except one… the day we drove through Monument Valley. The clouds were so low they could have touched the ground; the heavy rain was relentless. It poured during our entire drive through Monument Valley. We never saw a thing. Nothing. From then on our joke was that Monument Valley didn’t really exist, it was just a made up place on a Hollywood lot.
Take Two
Fast forward to June, 2018 and we’re driving out to Colorado for a family reunion. (No the family is not from Colorado, we just thought it would be a great place to gather; it was.) Leaving Ohio early allowed us time to see the sights along the way. However, we didn’t stop as much as we thought we would and arrived in Denver earlier than expected. We decided rather than staying in Denver for three days, we would drive on out to Monument Valley and give it another try.
We headed out to Moab Utah, where we stayed the night. Wow, has Moab changed in 14 years! When we were last there, there very few hotels. Now there’s a great selection. As fate would have it, we ended up staying at the same hotel we stayed in 14 years ago, the Moab Valley Inn.
The clerk at the hotel told us that there were supposed to be a couple more hotels constructed in town, and she didn’t know where they were going to find the people to staff it. She said that the Wendy’s, which had been in Moab all her life, just closed as they could not find enough employees.
We’re on Our Way!
The next morning we were up at the first glimmer of sunlight, and headed down the highway to Monument Valley. We passed Hole N” the Rock, which we had seen on our original trip, but after that, it was all new scenery for us.
We (okay, I) needed to make a pit stop along the way and stopped at Bluff Fort. It appeared to be fairly new, so I don’t think it is something we would have seen on our previous trip. By the way, very nice, clean bathrooms. There is no charge to enter Bluff Fort, but donations are appreciated.
It Does Exist!
We got back on the road, and then it happened; we started seeing the formations. Yes; Monument Valley does exist! On our first drive through Monument Valley, we saw nothing. Not one formation. Not even the outline of a formation. We had absolutely no idea that these beautiful sandstone formations were all around us. Art and I were both stunned at what we were seeing.
We drove all the way down to Kayenta, just inside the northern border of Arizona. We then turned around and headed back north on the same road.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
We made a detour into the Navajo Tribal Park, which is where the formations that are almost always featured in the movies and TV shows are located. The cost was $20 per car to enter the park. (This park is on Navajo Tribal lands and, as such, is not part of the US National Park system, so your NPS passes are not valid for admission here.)
Within in the park there is a visitors’ center with an exhibit on the Native American Code Talkers of WWII, which we found very interesting. (I am not sure if this is a permanent exhibit or not.) You can also take a driving tour of the area and get closer to some of the most famous monuments. Since we still had many hours of driving ahead of us that day the additional tour was out of the question.
The viewing area at the visitor’s center does afford you the iconic view of the sandstone monuments that you see most often in the movies. I did take some beautiful photos, but the Navajo Tribe asks that you do not use such photos for commercial use without paying a royalty. I respect that and will comply with their rules.
Throughout Monument Valley, everything looks so barren at first glance. However, as you look around, you will see that there is scrub brush everywhere in many different shades of green; gray green, blue green, pale green. It really does possess a beauty of its own.
Mission Accomplished!
Our goal for that day was to be in Eagle, Colorado, which we reached. All in all, it was 13 hours of driving in one day. It was totally worth it to finally see Monument Valley.
If you would like to see more photos from our trip, go to photo journals and click on Journey to Monument Valley.
What about you? Have you made the trek to Monument Valley? What did you think? I’d love to hear about your experience!
