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.
Warren sits in the back of the tour truck with Monument Valley in the background.
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).
A Navajo taco is fry bread topped with Navajo chili, lettuce, cheese, tomato and salsa.
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.
The monument behind Warren is called Left Mitten.
This is Sun’s Eye.
This is a male hogan.
This is Left Mitten with other monuments in the background.
This monument of called The Hub.
This cowboy and his horse replicate an iconic photo that was taken in Monument Valley.
This view of the cowboy and horse is from John Ford Point. John Ford filmed many westerns in Monument Valley.
The female hogan is more rounded in shape.
Warren gets back on the truck after lunch.
The view from Goulding’s Museum is the first impression of the beauty of the Valley.
These flowers were in bloom outside the Goudling’s Museum.
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