Hollywood loves this place. It has been used for John Wayne westerns, Back to the Future, and others I can’t remember.
We stayed at Goulding’s Campground. The location was perfect, and Goudling’s offers tours of Monument Valley. The tour guide picked us up at the campground.
The day we arrived from Las Vegas the wind was blowing really hard. The wind wasn’t the biggest problem, the blowing dirt was. Huge clouds of red dirt. I was afraid we were not going to have a tour the following day.
Fortunately, in the morning, the wind was gone. We signed up for the all-day tour (8 hours). The all day tour starts in Mystery Valley, with a hamburger lunch cooked by the tour guide, then on to Monument Valley.
Warren and I sat in the back of the open-air truck. I figured this would be a better place to snap pictures.
It was a good place to sit. We could feel all the slipping and sliding over the sane. Who needed an amusement park with a ride in the back of the truck, bouncing over the rocks and bumps. It was a good tour.
Our tour guide was David. He told a lot about the history of the Anastazi in Mystery Valley and the Navajo in Monument Valley. He cooked a mean hamburger. He also had a great sense of humor.
I recommend staying at Goulding’s, either at the campground or the lodge. The restaurant has great food (check out the Navajo tacos).
Don’t drive your own car into Monument Valley. I am so glad we took the tour and didn’t drive my car. The roads (which are not paved) are not kind to cars. Pay for the tour, it’s worth not tearing up your car.